Argentina

• Friday, March 22nd 2019 - 09:00 UTC

  Argentine economy contracted 2.5% in 2018, after shrinking 6.2% in fourth quarter

  

  Argentina’s economy contracted 2.5% in 2018, the official statistics agency said on Thursday, as the Latin American country’s leaders struggle to revive growth after being rattled by a currency crisis and steep inflation over the past year.

• Thursday, March 21st 2019 - 10:07 UTC

  Bolivian elections on October 20, not to coincide with Argentina and Uruguay

  

  General elections in Bolivia will now be held on Sunday, October 20, a week earlier than first planned, in order not to clash with elections in Argentina and Uruguay scheduled for October 27. Bolivia's Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) confirmed the decision this week.

• Thursday, March 21st 2019 - 09:36 UTC

  Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay re-launch bid for 2030 World Cup

  

  Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay re-launched their bid to host the 2030 World Cup following a meeting of their presidents in Buenos Aires on Wednesday. The four national presidents committed to creating a local organizing committee with a representative from each country to coordinate with CONMEBOL, South American football's governing body.

• Wednesday, March 20th 2019 - 21:13 UTC

  President of Uruguay criticizes Prosur for “generating another integration with ideological purpose”

  

  Uruguayan President Tabaré Vázquez questioned on Thursday the Colombian-Chilean initiative to create a new integration bloc to replace the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and argued that the region has a number of integration processes that collide and they become inefficient.

• Wednesday, March 20th 2019 - 17:13 UTC

  Renew political commitment at the South-South Cooperation summit in Buenos Aires

  

  The member states of the South-South Cooperation Plan will meet in Buenos Aires from March 20 to 23 to launch a new strategy with a view to implementing the UN Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 within the framework of the Second High-Level Conference of United Nations on South-South Cooperation, PABA +40. The event will commemorate the 40th anniversary of the approval of the Buenos Aires Action Plan and awaits a “renewed political commitment” from participating States.

• Tuesday, March 19th 2019 - 09:05 UTC

  Another corruption charge for ex president Cristina Fernandez: fraudulent import of liquid gas

  

  Argentina's former president Cristina Kirchner was charged in yet another corruption investigation on Monday, in this case over the fraudulent import of liquid gas. Judge Claudio Bonadio, who Cristina Kirchner accuses of political persecution, requested that the ex-president be placed in pre-trial detention, but her partial immunity as a senator shields her from imprisonment.

• Tuesday, March 19th 2019 - 08:50 UTC

  Macri admits his father was part of an extortion system during the Kirchner years

  

  Franco Macri's dealings with the former Kirchnerite governments amount to a “crime,” Argentine president Mauricio Macri declared on Sunday in a wide-ranging primetime interview that touched on corruption, influence peddling, the October elections, former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's legal situation and his recently deceased father, Franco.

• Tuesday, March 19th 2019 - 08:30 UTC

  Danish Royals visit Argentina with a delegation to promete business and trade

  

  Denmark's Queen Margrethe II and Crown Prince Frederik are spearheading an official state visit to Argentina which started this Monday ahead of a larger business delegation which seeks to make inroads in the country. 

• Tuesday, March 19th 2019 - 06:16 UTC

  IMF commends Argentina's stabilization efforts, releases next US$ 10.8bn, but also demands more austerity

  

  An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Mr. Roberto Cardarelli visited Argentina during February 11–22, 2019 to conduct discussions on the Third Review of Argentina’s IMF-supported program under the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA). Talks continued in Washington DC after the end of the mission.

• Monday, March 18th 2019 - 08:50 UTC

  Falkland’s 1982 civilian hero and life-long radio ham dies in England

  

  The Falkland Islands weekly Penguin News reported this week on the death in England of Reginald (Reg) Silvey, one of the perhaps lesser known civilian heroes of the war in 1982, but almost certainly the one whose activities put him most at risk of arrest and possible execution.