The final document of the EU/CELAC summit in Chile which gathered representatives from 61 countries made a strong commitment to promote trade and investment between the two blocks as well as combat protectionism, but there was no explicit mention to the Falklands’ dispute with Argentina.
“Memorandum of Understanding” including the creation of a “Truth Commission” between the governments of Argentina and the Islamic Republic of Iran and intended to resolve the 1994 terrorist bombing of the Argentine-Jewish Community Centre AMIA in Buenos Aires was signed on Sunday according to the Argentine Presidential web site.
Britain’s future in the European Union would rest on a knife-edge if a referendum was held immediately, according to a research poll carried out for The Times: 40% of voters back an UK exit while 37% want to keep ties with Brussels and 23% do not know.
Catalonia regional parliament has approved a declaration proclaiming the Catalan people a “sovereign political and legal entity”. The motion also calls for a referendum to be held to allow Catalans their say on independence.
United States Republican Congressman Thomas Petri will visit the Falkland Islands from Monday 28 January 28 to February 2 accompanied by a group of congressional staff members.
The IMF downgraded growth estimates for Latinamerica in 2013 from 3.9% to 3.6%, mainly because of an anticipated poor showing of the region’s largest economy Brazil, according to the Fund’s latest report on the world economy prospects.
IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said she is unsure about Brazil’s economic outlook despite the country’s official estimate of 3.5% growth this year, since recovery is “very slow” as the 1% of 2012 showed.
Representatives from sixty countries begin Saturday in Santiago de Chile the two day summit which breaks with recent tradition: Latin American countries, full of economic confidence, are hosting their European partners and are expected to volunteer to help with Europe’s economic problems.
The European Union27 international trade in goods with the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, (CELAC), has been characterised in recent years by steady growth between 2003 and 2008, a sharp decline in 2009 and a strong recovery since then.
As part of its overall efforts to ensure that the US fishing industry isn’t undermined by unsustainable or illegal activities, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has submitted a Congressionally mandated report identifying ten nations whose fishing vessels engaged in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in 2011 or 2012, or had ineffective measures to prevent the unintended catch of protected species in 2012.