Spanish Foreign minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said that the ‘best solution’ for Spain and Argentina on the dispute over the seizure of a majority stake of YPF from Repsol is “negotiations” and emphasized that Madrid will back Spanish corporations in what it ‘considers convenient’.
The government of President Cristina Fernandez thanked Paraguay for granting political asylum to Juan Domingo Peron, three times elected president of Argentina, at their embassy in Buenos Aires, when he was ousted by a military coup in September 1955
Argentina’s long-term sovereign foreign currency credit rating was cut one level by Standard & Poor’s, which cited a US Appeals Court ruling that prevents the country from honouring its debt without also paying holders of defaulted bonds in full.
Inflation in Argentina during August climbed 2.11% and 25.2% in the last twelve months according to the release from the Congress Freedom of expression commission. The so called Congressional index is an average of private consultants that have been intimidated from making public their estimates by the government of President Cristina Fernandez.
Argentina promised to be ‘inflexible” with the UPM pulp mill on Uruguayan territory, if it tries to increase production as it has requested, thus again opening a new controversy with Uruguay which has pledged to answer the (2011) expansion request in the last week of September. Presidents Cristina Fernandez and Jose Mujica are scheduled to meet in Buenos Aires at the end of the month.
Sergio Massa, mayor of Tigre in suburban Buenos Aires who is disputing Argentine President Cristina Fernandez leadership of the ruling movement by running for the Lower House in representation of the province of Buenos Aires, leads comfortably with 40% of vote intention according to the latest public opinion released on Sunday.
Paraguayan president Horacio Cartes is expected in Buenos Aires on Tuesday, following an invitation from his Argentine peer Cristina Fernandez, which will be his first overseas bilateral trip since taking office 15 August.
In 2006 a year before Cristina Fernandez took office as president for the first time, Argentine public opinion was concerned with unemployment (25%) and insecurity (25%) while corruption stood at 5% and inflation 1%. However seven years later insecurity and inflation are paramount with 34% and 13%, corruption 8% and employment concern is down to 7%.
The World Economic Forum Competitiveness report published last week shows Latinamerica is loosing ground in the world economy and the three countries which most plunged in the ranking in the last twelve months were: Venezuela, Argentina and Uruguay.
Argentine former foreign minister Jorge Taiana was named candidate to lead President Cristina Fernandez’ Victory Front to the Buenos Aires City Legislature. Although Taiana’s name had been rumoured, the move was the biggest surprise in the countdown to the Saturday midnight deadline to register candidates to run in October’s mid term election.