
In anticipation of the business opportunities the oil industry will bring to the Falkland Islands, a leading company has plans to build in the capital Stanley two temporary 200-bed accommodations, according to the planning applications received.

Latin American and Caribbean countries will grow on average 3.5% this year supported by a strong domestic demand and the improved performance of Argentina and Brazil compared with 2012, according to the latest “Updated economic review of Latin America and the Caribbean 2012’ from the UN Economic Commission for Latinamerica and the Caribbean, ECLAC.

The Brazilian government has come to the rescue of the sugar-ethanol industry announcing that as of next May first the mandatory content of ethanol in gasoline will increase from 20% to 25%, taxes on the sugar-cane fuel will be eliminated and there will be soft loans to keep expansion going.

Chilean authorities are feeling calmer with the exchange rate nearing 480 pesos per US dollar, Finance Minister Felipe Larrain said on Tuesday, as the currency retreated from the year-and-a-half highs it reached earlier this month.

By R. Viswanathan (*) - Horacio Cartes of the Colorado party won the presidential elections held last Sunday in Paraguay. The Colorados had ruled the country continuously for 61 years in a one-party dictatorship until 2008 when Fernando Lugo, the leftist “Bishop of the Poor” defeated the Colorado candidate and made history.

In the midst of global economic uncertainty, Latin America has maintained steady levels of economic growth and financial resilience over the past decade. The region has a forecast of almost 4% economic growth in 2013, and it is this encouraging prospect that is the focus of the 2013 World Economic Forum on Latin America in Lima, Peru, which opened on Tuesday 23 until April 25.

Brazil’ aircraft manufacturer Embrear is again resurfacing suspicions regarding the sale of commercial planes to Aerolineas Argentinas involving several million dollars in surcharges. The company informed the US Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, that it is investigating companies from five different countries to which it sold aircraft allegedly in transactions suspicious of irregularities.

Ralph Lauren Corp. has agreed to pay 1.6 million dollars to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, after finding that its subsidiary in Argentina repeatedly bribed customs officials, federal authorities announced Monday.

With the intention of boosting exports to Arab nations, the Argentine and Brazilian chambers of commerce have established an Arab-South American Commerce Federation it was reported in Buenos Aires.

President Nicolas Maduro replaced Venezuelan Finance Minister Jorge Giordani, appointing central bank chief Nelson Merentes in his place two days after being sworn in as Hugo Chavez's successor.