Economy

• Wednesday, December 21st 2011 - 05:58 UTC

  “Malvinas is a global cause” because it involves the grabbing of natural resources

  

  “Malvinas is not an Argentine cause, it’s a global cause because they are taking our fisheries and oil resources” said Argentine president Cristina Fernandez on taking the Mercosur rotating chair for the next six months.

• Wednesday, December 21st 2011 - 05:53 UTC

  Mercosur supports Argentina: bans access to all Falklands/Malvinas flagged vessels

  

  Mercosur member countries (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay) finally agreed Tuesday to close its ports to ships flying the flag of the disputed Falkland/Malvinas Islands, announced Uruguay's president at the closing of the group’s two-day summit in Montevideo.

• Wednesday, December 21st 2011 - 05:49 UTC

  Chavez claims five Paraguayan lawmakers are impeding Venezuelan access to Mercosur

  

  President Hugo Chavez claimed that a small group of Paraguayan lawmakers, manipulated by a “powerful black hand”, are impeding the long-delayed access of Venezuela as full member of Mercosur.

• Wednesday, December 21st 2011 - 05:39 UTC

  Lugo complains restrictions on market access and in energy integration

  

  Paraguayan president Fernando Lugo called for the free flow and free access of his country’s goods to Mercosur senior members’ markets and insisted on the energy integration of the block.

• Wednesday, December 21st 2011 - 05:34 UTC

  Mercosur signs free trade agreement with Palestinian Authority

  

  Mercosur signed a free trade agreement with the Palestinian Authority on Tuesday, the first between the territories and a block of nations outside the Arab world. The ceremony took place during Mercosur presidential summit in Montevideo.

• Wednesday, December 21st 2011 - 05:29 UTC

  Ecuador wants closer ties between Mercosur and the Andean-Pacific countries

  

  Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa said he was satisfied with having presented an official request for his country to join Mercosur and also called for closer links between Mercosur and the Andean Nations Community, CAN.

• Wednesday, December 21st 2011 - 02:28 UTC

  Regional inter-trade expands 25% and is expected to reach record 160bn dollars

  

  Trade among ALADI, Latin American Integration Association, which includes all the hemisphere countries with the exception of a few from Central America and the Caribbean, is expected to reach a historic record in 2011 close to 160 billion dollars, ahead of the 2008 record with 146 billion dollars.

• Wednesday, December 21st 2011 - 00:52 UTC

  Britain skips contribution to the IMF for a Euro zone bailout fund

  

  Britain’s refusal to contribute to the IMF for a Euro zone bailout fund has left the EU short of its 200 billion Euro target. The UK boycott leaves the Euro zone more reliant than ever on major economies such China and on Russia, which are willing to lend more to the IMF.

• Wednesday, December 21st 2011 - 00:48 UTC

  ”Gibraltar at this moment, a minor issue” says Spanish Conservative think-tank

  

  A senior director at a Conservative think-tank founded by Jose Maria Aznar, Spain’s former Popular Party prime minister, said Gibraltar was low on the list of priorities for Madrid, particularly at a time of crisis when it needed the UK as an ally.

• Wednesday, December 21st 2011 - 00:45 UTC

  UK readies plan for ex-pats evacuation in the event of Spain and Portugal banking collapse

  

  Gibraltar could play a role in contingency plans drawn up by the Foreign Office to evacuate British expatriates in the event of a banking collapse in Spain and Portugal, according to the Sunday Times.