Latin America

• Friday, June 10th 2016 - 08:08 UTC

  World Bank slashes global growth forecast to 2.4%, down from 2.9%

  

  The World Bank has slashed its 2016 global growth forecast to 2.4% from the 2.9% estimated in January, due to stubbornly low commodity prices, sluggish demand in advanced economies, weak trade and diminishing capital flows.

• Friday, June 10th 2016 - 07:11 UTC

  Kuczynski becomes Peru's next president, with minimum support in Congress

  

  Former World Bank economist Pedro Pablo Kuczynski won the majority of votes in Peru’s closest presidential contest in five decades, election officials announced Thursday, even as his rival Keiko Fujimori had yet to concede defeat.

• Thursday, June 9th 2016 - 09:41 UTC

  Peruvian election too close to call, and 1% of votes have been challenged

  

  Peruvians waited Wednesday to learn who their next president will be, as ex-Wall Street banker Pedro Pablo Kuczynski's camp called his lead insurmountable and controversial rival Keiko Fujimori insisted she still had a shot. Three days after Sunday's runoff election, the race to lead one of Latin America's fastest-growing economies was still too close to officially call, even though 99.5% of the ballots had been counted.

• Tuesday, June 7th 2016 - 08:11 UTC

  Almagro accuses Macri of reversing campaign promises in the Venezuelan situation

  

  After directing criticism at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and urging that Caracas be considered for suspension from the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro has accused Argentine President Mauricio Macri of impeding those efforts and of reversing his campaign promises of taking a hard line against Maduro.

• Monday, June 6th 2016 - 11:07 UTC

  Uruguay will hand the Mercosur rotating chair to Venezuela in July and defies OAS chief proposal

  

  Uruguay will hand over the chair of Mercosur to Venezuela at the end of July, as indicated by the organization's calendar, and does not support the implementation of the Democratic clause against the government of president Nicolas Maduro, as sponsored by OAS secretary general, Luis Almagro a former Uruguayan foreign minister.

• Monday, June 6th 2016 - 07:54 UTC

  Kuczynski has a slight lead over Keiko in the Peruvian presidential runoff

  

  Economist Pedro Pablo Kuczynski had a slight lead over Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of an imprisoned former president, as early results came in from Peru's presidential election on Sunday. The 77-year-old Kuczynski had 50.59% support while Fujimori had 49.41% with about 52% of votes counted.

• Friday, June 3rd 2016 - 09:30 UTC

  Peru's next president: no economic surprises with a strong dash of populism

  

  Less than a decade after Peru imprisoned former President Alberto Fujimori, voters will decide on Sunday whether to put his 41-year-old daughter back in the presidential palace where she once served as his first lady.

• Thursday, June 2nd 2016 - 09:20 UTC

  Argentina describes Falklands' governor speech on links as 'positive', but they must be bilateral through UK

  

  Argentina believes there is an opportunity to improve the relation with the Falkland Islanders, and 'we are exploring available options', but those links must be channeled through bilateral relations with the United Kingdom, since the Islands dispute is with the UK.

• Wednesday, June 1st 2016 - 06:06 UTC

  Maduro to Almagro: “stick up the Democratic Charter wherever it fits”

  

  Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Tuesday that Organization of American States chief Luis Almagro had called for foreign “intervention” in his country by invoking the body’s Democratic Charter in response to the political crisis in Venezuela.

• Wednesday, June 1st 2016 - 03:11 UTC

  Falklands, after 'boom' years, announces a prudent mid/term sustainable budget

  

  The Falkland Islands Financial Secretary Nicola Granger presented on Tuesday to the Legislative Assembly the 2016/17 financial budget bill with appropriations of £62.9M, funded from revenues anticipated in the year of £61.3M with the remainder coming from the reserves built up from wind-falls in Illex catches and oil and gas exploration in recent years.