Argentina

• Saturday, March 16th 2013 - 03:43 UTC

  Falklands: PM Cameron anticipates Argentina’s intention of having Francis involved in the dispute

  

  British Prime Minister David Cameron stated on Friday that Pope Francis had been wrong to say last year that Britain had “usurped” the Falkland Islands from Argentina, saying he respectfully disagreed with the new Pontiff. His words have been interpreted as a message anticipating the Argentine government’s possible attempts to get the new pope involved in the dispute.

• Saturday, March 16th 2013 - 03:31 UTC

  Argentina expanded 1.9% in 2012; saves 4bn dollars on GDP-growth linked bonds

  

  Argentina’s GDP expanded 1.9%, following an increase of 2.1% in the last quarter of 2012, compared to the 8.9% of 2011, according to the official but questioned national stats office Indec release on Friday.

• Friday, March 15th 2013 - 07:03 UTC

  Francis calls on the Church to keep to its roots or it could become “a passionate NGO”

  

  In his first public Mass, Pope Francis urged the Catholic Church on Thursday to stick to its roots and shun modern temptations, warning that it would become just “a compassionate NGO” if it forgot its true mission.

• Friday, March 15th 2013 - 06:57 UTC

  Argentina: dollar in black market climbs to milestone 8 Pesos and 57% gap with the official rate

  

  The black market dollar exchange rate in Argentina pierced the milestone 8 Pesos mark while the official rate climbed to 5.09 Pesos with the gap between the two markets reaching 57%. The other ‘cash’ option: buying Argentine shares in Buenos Aires and reselling them in New York climbed 10 cents to 8.46 Pesos.

• Friday, March 15th 2013 - 06:54 UTC

  Argentina February Congressional inflation index more that double the official rate

  

  In contrast with the 0.5% inflation reported by the Argentine government’s controversial stats office, Indec, the index based on private estimates and released by opposition lawmakers climbed to 1.23% with an accumulated 25.27% in the last twelve months.

• Friday, March 15th 2013 - 00:26 UTC

  January was the busiest month for South Georgia tourist season

  

  January was the busiest month of the tourist season for South Georgia with 13 visits from cruise ships; in the second week of the month seven cruise ships visited. There were also visits by the Fishery Patrol Vessel, research vessels, and a large motor yacht, reports the latest editions of the South Georgia Newsletter.

• Thursday, March 14th 2013 - 09:23 UTC

  Falkland Islands’ referendum message to Argentina: “intimidation of Islanders must cease”

  

  The Argentine government demands to control the Falkland Islands against the wishes of the people who live there are fundamentally incompatible with modern democratic values and attempts to intimidate the Islanders must cease, said Foreign Secretary William Hague in an update to Parliament.

• Thursday, March 14th 2013 - 09:14 UTC

  Falkland Islands’ referendum, Argentina should yield to reality and peoples’ self determination says Brazilian daily

  

  Under the heading of “Malvinas: British” the influential Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo describes the 99.8% result of the Falklands referendum as a “compelling defeat” for the Argentine government and a litigation hard to sustain when international law rests more on the peoples’ perspective than in the historic, real or imaginary territorial possession.

• Thursday, March 14th 2013 - 09:07 UTC

  Argentina furious with Brazil over cancelling of 6bn potash development project

  

  The government of President Cristina Fernandez is furious with the Brazil-based Vale mining company for suspending its 6 billion dollars potash development in Mendoza, the largest investment in Argentina in recent years.

• Thursday, March 14th 2013 - 09:03 UTC

  Falkland Islands’ referendum: for Canada results are ‘very clear’ but for EC it was an ‘internal affair’

  

  The Canadian government said on Wednesday that the results of the Falkland Islands referendum are “very clear” and “only” the people of the Islands are entitled to decide on their future. However the European Commission refused to get involved in the discussion arguing it is an “internal affair” of an EU member.