Argentina

• Friday, August 21st 2009 - 14:09 UTC

  Allende’s family wants Brazil do declassify documents from 1973

  

  Chilean Member of Parliament Isabel Allende said she will ask the Brazilian government to declassify documents that could shed light on Brazil’s possible involvement in the 1973 coup that led to the ouster and death of her father, elected socialist President Salvador Allende.

• Friday, August 21st 2009 - 14:01 UTC

  Argentine congress extends Kirchner’s special taxing powers

  

  Argentina’s Senate passed a bill extending President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner’s authority to set export tax rates for one year, further angering farmers who have been confronted with the government for almost two years on the issue.

• Friday, August 21st 2009 - 11:04 UTC

  Argentine exports forecasted to drop 20%, but 2010 is a promising year

  

  The global recession will have an impact on Argentine exports which are forecasted to fall an estimated 20% this year to 55 billion US dollars, compared to last year. However since imports have also plummeted the trade surplus in July grew 35% (1.3 billion) totalling 11.2 billion US dollars in the first seven months of the year.

• Thursday, August 20th 2009 - 16:05 UTC

  Argentina and Brazil moving towards “financial integration”

  

  Argentina and Brazil signed Wednesday an agreement to swap domestic currencies for the equivalent of a total 1.8 billion US dollars, which could be used to increase international reserves. The accord was described as an important effort towards “financial integration” in the framework of Mercosur.

• Thursday, August 20th 2009 - 15:46 UTC

  Buenos Aires tragic rock club manager convicted to 20 years in prison

  

  Argentina's Court of Justice on Wednesday convicted and sentenced a club owner to 20 years in prison for a deadly club fire that killed 194 people but absolved the band that had played the night of the tragedy.

• Wednesday, August 19th 2009 - 12:24 UTC

  Some positive signs for Argentine industrial activity in spite of poor data

  

  Argentine industrial activity during July plunged for the tenth month running going down 9.5% compared to a year ago, and accumulates so far this year a contraction of 8.7%, according to a private financial consultant group based in Buenos Aires.

• Wednesday, August 19th 2009 - 12:20 UTC

  Honduras breaks diplomatic relations with Argentina

  

  Honduras suspended diplomatic relations with Argentina on Tuesday in retaliation for having its ambassador expelled from Argentina last week. The move stems from tensions between the two countries over the June 28 coup in which Honduran President Jose Manuel Zelaya was replaced by congressional leader Roberto Micheletti.

• Wednesday, August 19th 2009 - 12:10 UTC

  Catholic Church insists 40% of Argentines live in poverty

  

  The Argentine Catholic Church insisted on Tuesday that 40% of the population is poor or living below the poverty line and the gap between rich and poor is “scandalous”. The statement comes when Argentine bishops are meeting in Buenos Aires,

• Tuesday, August 18th 2009 - 13:03 UTC

  US media sets eyes on Argentina’s “manipulation of numbers”

  

  Argentina’s Statistics Institute controversy was joined Sunday by a most reputable newspaper, the Washington Post that called Indec numbers a ”manipulation (...) done under pressure from above”.

• Tuesday, August 18th 2009 - 07:55 UTC

  Malvinas Families will inaugurate Argentine Memorial next October

  

  The Commission of Malvinas war Families confirmed to the Buenos Aires press that the Argentine Memorial at the Falklands’ Darwin cemetery will be inaugurated next October in two consecutive Saturdays. An advance party to coordinate the events is expected in the Falkland Islands at the end of the month.