Latin America

• Saturday, December 13th 2014 - 04:07 UTC

  Argentina purchases four Russian multipurpose polar Supply-class tugs

  

  Argentina's ministry of Defense has signed an agreement for the purchase of four Russian-built multipurpose polar tugs, class NEFTEGAZ, at a total cost of just over eight million dollars.

• Saturday, December 13th 2014 - 03:55 UTC

  Tribute at sea at site of the Battle of the Falklands to honor British and German sailors

  

  Descendants of the three Admirals who led the Royal Navy and Imperial German Navy at the Battles of Coronel and the Falklands in 1914 have paid tribute at sea.

• Friday, December 12th 2014 - 22:55 UTC

  OAS will vote for new Secretary General on 18 March 2015: Insulza steps down after a decade

  

  Member states of the Organization of American States (OAS) agreed that the next Assistant Secretary General will be elected on the same day as the election of the next Secretary General, 18 March 2015. The initiative was approved during Wednesday's regular meetings by the OAS Permanent Council

• Friday, December 12th 2014 - 21:49 UTC

  Dutch oil platform leasing company cutting 11% of global workforce

  

  Dutch oil platform leasing company SBM Offshore is cutting 1,200 jobs, or slightly more than 11% of its global workforce, as part of a cost-saving program.

• Friday, December 12th 2014 - 21:07 UTC

  US/UK trained Brazil military in torture techniques; British were particularly sophisticated

  

  Officials from the United States and the United Kingdom spent years teaching members of the Brazilian military how to develop and improve their torture techniques during the country’s two-decade long dictatorship (1964/1985), it was confirmed this week by the National Truth Commission, CNV, report.

• Wednesday, December 10th 2014 - 08:19 UTC

  Summit supports Argentina in its struggle with bond holders

  

  The two-day summit of Ibero American leaders meeting in Mexico, besides the traditional declaration, also put out a special statement in support of Argentina and its ongoing struggle with speculative funds.

• Wednesday, December 10th 2014 - 07:56 UTC

  Weaker Latin American currencies against the US dollar next year

  

  Latin American currencies will lose value against the US dollar in 2015 because of the strong US recovery and lower commodities' prices according to Itau-Unibanco, Brazil's largest private bank which also anticipates a strong fiscal adjustment by President Dilma Rousseff's next administration, in an effort to regain investors' 'confidence'.

• Tuesday, December 9th 2014 - 23:03 UTC

  Mercosur lacks discipline and has become a 'straitjacket' for trade negotiations

  

  Mercosur must discipline and return to its origin as a customs union since it has become a 'straitjacket' for negotiations with other regional blocks, according to Lia Valls, foreign trade coordinator at the Brazilian Economics Institute belonging to the prestigious thinktank Getulio Vargas foundation.

• Monday, December 8th 2014 - 07:12 UTC

  Road ahead for Latin America 'increasingly bumpy' says IMF Lagarde

  

  Latin America faces a rocky road ahead despite social and economic achievements in recent years, according to the head of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde. Among the achievements in the last two decades and in most nations, Ms Lagarde mentioned low inflation, fiscal discipline, and financial stability.

• Monday, December 8th 2014 - 06:55 UTC

  Mujica says Guantanamo inmates in Uruguay can leave whenever they wish

  

  The detainees from Guantanamo Base in Cuba that arrived in Uruguay on Sunday as part of an agreement with the US, “can leave the country whenever they wish”, since they come as 'refugees', announced President Jose Mujica.