
Oil and gas explorer GeoPark expects to end the year having drilled 35 wells in Chilean Magallanes and Tierra del Fuego, which must be added to the 560 million dollars the company has invested in the region since it began operations in 2006, said the company in an economic impact report presented by consultants Gemines.

The following article by Peter Eavis and Alexandra Stevenson was published in The New York Times and addresses the current litigation between Argentina and the speculative funds. The hedge fund firm of billionaire Paul E. Singer has about 300 employees, yet it has managed to force Argentina, a nation of 41 million people, into a position where it now has to contemplate a humbling surrender.

The following piece published in The New York Times was written by Joseph E. Stiglitz, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics and a former chief economist of the World Bank, and currently a professor at Columbia University.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) on Friday declared Argentina in default, which could trigger payments worth up to one billion dollars on credit default swaps.

The Argentine Economy Ministry claimed on Friday New York judge Thomas Griesa has benefited “vulture funds” during negotiations over Argentina's defaulted debt with holdouts and asked the (Argentine) National Values Commission (CNV) to start an investigation over alleged “speculative moves”.

The U.S. economy added 209,000 jobs in July, the Labor Department reported on Friday. However the unemployment rate edged up to 6.2% from 6.1%, somehow confirming the Federal Reserve concern about still weak employment.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who hopes to be re-elected for a second term in October’s elections, has defended her government’s industrial policy in front of the sector’s business leaders, the National Confederation of Industry (CNI).

US District Judge Thomas Griesa presiding over Argentina's bitter dispute with two hedge funds left the country stranded in default on Friday, ordering it to hold new negotiations and calling for an end to mistrust. In a stern tone Griesa slammed the decision by Argentina to defy his order that it pay in full holdout investors and instead opted to default on 29 billion dollars in debt.

The maker of Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona beers experienced a sharp surge in sales in Brazil during the World Cup with the month-long contest leading to consumption of an extra 140 million liters or 2 million barrels.

Mercosur members finally agreed this week on a draft joint proposal to be presented to the European Union with the purpose of negotiating a long delayed trade and cooperation agreement with EU, according to Uruguayan diplomatic sources.