
An alternative north-south air-link and better facilities for tourism development surfaced at the Falkland Islands candidates debate ahead of 7 November General Election during the FIRS/Penguin News press conference earlier this week.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved a 300 million dollars loan to finance a multiple-work road program aimed at improving the conditions of accessibility, efficiency, and safety of priority roads of Argentina’s Norte Grande Region’s provincial road network and at contributing to the area’s sustainable economic development.

Oil exploration in Uruguay picked up strongly with the arrival of Anglo-Dutch Shell which took over Brazil's Petrobras participation in two offshore blocs according to the country's oil company Ancap Exploration and Production manager Hector de Santa Ana.

Paraguayan president Horacio Cartes and his peer from Brazil Dilma Rousseff inaugurated on Tuesday a 500KW power plant and line from the Itaipú hydroelectric dam to the city of Asunción which should help end endemic blackouts and supply a new industrial park.

A railway tunnel underneath the Bosphorus Strait has been opened in Turkey, creating a new link between the Asian and European shores of Istanbul. The Marmaray tunnel is the world's first connecting two continents, and is designed to withstand earthquakes.

China National Petroleum Corp., the country’s largest oil producer, is nearing an agreement to buy Petrobras assets in Peru for more than 2 billion dollars. The proposed deal may be announced as soon as next month, according to sources quoted by Bloomberg.

Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff will inaugurate on Tuesday in Paraguay next to his peer Horacio Cartes a high voltage transmission line from the world's largest operational hydroelectric dam Itaipú to metropolitan Asuncion, capital of the landlocked country and which was financed with Mercosur funds.

The Paraguayan foreign affairs ministry will represent Mercosur next December when the exchange of proposals with the European Union for a long pending free trade agreement, announced Uruguayan president Jose Mujica on Friday following private talks with his visiting peer from Paraguay, Horacio Cartes.

President Horacio Cartes said on Friday he wanted a reliable and serious Paraguay, full of self esteem taking advantage of the good economic times and pledged motivation and support for all those who help generate wealth and jobs for the country. However he also admitted that Paraguay has serious failings, but problems are challenges and opportunities.

A New York Times piece published on Thursday regarding the agreement between Argentine nationalized oil and gas company YPF with California based Chevron has triggered a strong controversy in Argentina because of an alleged secret clause in the commercial document.