Latin America

• Thursday, September 26th 2013 - 06:01 UTC

  Brazil’s main manufacturing lobby calls for urgent resumption of trade talks with EU

  

  The powerful manufacturers lobby, Sao Paulo’s Industry Federation, Fiesp believes a free trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union is very much needed so that Latam’s largest economy climbs out from the “commercial isolation” in which it currently stands.

• Thursday, September 26th 2013 - 05:58 UTC

  Brazil’s development bank ‘overbooked’ needs support from the private sector

  

  The Brazilian state development bank BNDES is “overbooked” and needs the private sector to step up funding in investments, according to bank president Luciano Coutinho. Lending by BNDES and other public banks has increased six times faster than credit by non-state bank this year, as the government tries to fuel economic growth.

• Thursday, September 26th 2013 - 05:56 UTC

  Chilean Army Commander in Chief on an official visit to United Kingdom

  

  Chile’s Commander in Chief of the Chilean Army General Juan Miguel Fuente-Alba was in the UK for an official visit to strengthen links between the British and Chilean armies.

• Thursday, September 26th 2013 - 05:32 UTC

  Maduro skips UN speech alleging ‘two highly serious provocations’ against his life

  

  Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Wednesday he had scrapped his plan to take part in the UN General Assembly in New York to “protect my life” after purported threats on it. Just back from a visit to China Maduro said that on a layover in Vancouver he received intelligence on what he said were “two highly serious provocations”, which prompted him to scrap his UN trip.

• Thursday, September 26th 2013 - 05:25 UTC

  Unasur will attempt to name a Secretary General on Friday in New York

  

  South American foreign ministers are scheduled to meet next Friday in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to decide the name of the next Unasur secretary general, according to an official release from the main office in Quito.

• Wednesday, September 25th 2013 - 06:14 UTC

  Mujica blasted consumerism and called for political heads to rule the globalized world

  

  In a fiery speech before the UN General Assembly, Uruguayan president Jose Mujica criticized consumerism and waste, electronic surveillance which ‘poisons’ relations among nations, called for a true globalization and blasted individual greed which has “far outstripped the superior greed of the human specie”.

• Tuesday, September 24th 2013 - 08:07 UTC

  Brazil will continue with the 60bn dollar currency intervention program: ‘it’s working adequately’

  

  Brazil’s central bank chief Alexandre Tombini said on Monday policy makers will continue with their 60 billion dollars currency intervention plan, even after the Real rallied more than any other currency in the world as a consequence of the surprise announcement from the US Fed that for the moment it will not taper the bonds’ buying program to stimulate the US economy

• Tuesday, September 24th 2013 - 07:52 UTC

  Santos accepts with ‘prudence’ Mujica’s offer to host peace talks with Colombia’s ELN guerrilla

  

  President Juan Manuel Santos was grateful and ‘accepted with prudence’ his Uruguayan peer Jose Mujica offer to host a peace-talks process in Montevideo with the other big guerrilla movement in Colombia, the ELN, National Liberation Army

• Friday, September 20th 2013 - 08:35 UTC

  Lack of ‘tuning’ and a new historic reality, obstacles for EU/Mercosur trade talks

  

  The lack of ‘tuning’ in trade affairs is not the only motive stalling the decade long Mercosur/European Union trade and cooperation discussions according to EU ambassador in Montevideo, Juan Fernandez Trigo who also included what he described as the ‘new historic reality’.

• Friday, September 20th 2013 - 08:31 UTC

  Argentina and Brazil address Mercosur and trade discussion with Europe

  

  Argentina’s Hector Timerman and Brazil’s new Foreign minister Luiz Alberto Figueiredo Machado discussed a long agenda of common interest issues during a work meeting held in Buenos Aires, which included Mercosur, trade discussions with Europe, Unasur, Haiti and US cyber-spying in the region among other issues.