Argentina

• Friday, August 10th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Another stashed money scandal rocks Kirchner's administration

  An Argentine official resigned on Thursday after a Venezuelan businessman was found carrying about 800,000 US dollars in undeclared cash on a government-chartered flight, the latest scandal to rock President Nestor Kirchner's administration.

• Thursday, August 9th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Kirchner promised “full compensation” to torched Spanish fishing companies

  

  President Nestor Kirchner promised Spain “full compensation” to the Spanish fishing companies torched during a July labor dispute in his home Patagonia province of Santa Cruz, plus pressing charges against those responsible, including union leaders.

• Wednesday, August 8th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Official (unconvincing) Argentine July inflation, 0.5%

  Fears that the Argentine government appears to be intentionally underreporting inflation in an election year emerged again this week when the scandal plagued Statistics and Census Institute (INDEC), under judicial investigation, announced 0.5% July inflation.

• Wednesday, August 8th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Big Mac index has Argentina among most expensive countries

  

  According to the Big Mac index from The Economist which measures purchasing power parity, Argentina continues to climb and is rapidly becoming one of the most expensive countries in the world.

• Wednesday, August 8th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Spain asks Argentina for “stable economic relations framework”

  

  Spain's Vice president Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega called on Argentina for “a stable framework of economic relations, essential to generate confidence” among investors. Virtually the same words presidential candidate Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner faced from Spain's main businessmen during her late July visit to Madrid.

• Tuesday, August 7th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Chavez hails Cristina K as Argentina's next president

  

  Visiting Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez confirmed Monday in Buenos Aires the joint issuing with Argentina of a new sovereign South Bond and proclaimed that Senator Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is already “the president of the Argentines”.

• Tuesday, August 7th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Argentina successfully tests rocket for space research

  Argentina successfully tested at the beginning of July the Tronador I (Thunderer) rocket, the first step of a project to join the space race having as a target a rocket capable of sending a satellite into orbit.

• Monday, August 6th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Argentine: Port of Mar del Plata returns to normal

  

  The port of Mar del Plata, in the Province of Buenos Aires, began to recover its normal momentum after a 10-day blockade. Once the workers accepted the entrepreneurs' proposal on a guaranteed minimum wage and their legalised situation within a 100-day period, the fish skinning workers finally lifted their strike, and the sector's activity has resumed.

• Monday, August 6th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Argentine Jewish community rejects Chavez visit

  Representatives from the Argentine Jewish community expressed their “rejection and shame” over this Monday's visit of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez who has strong political ties with Iran that has forecasted the destruction of Israel and is allegedly linked to a deadly attack on a 1994 Buenos Aires Jewish community center.

• Monday, August 6th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  President Kirchner's confidence index keeps eroding

  With less than three months for next October presidential election the Nestor Kirchner administration is going through one of its worst moments since he first took office in May 2003, according to the Confidence Index from the Torcuato Di Tella University.