Latin America

• Saturday, May 25th 2013 - 04:29 UTC

  Paraguay becomes observer of the Alliance of the Pacific, despite Brazil and Mercosur

  

  The Alliance of the Pacific announced this week that Paraguay had been accepted as an observer of the regional group. Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos chair and host of the alliance summit in Cali made it official during the reading of the final declaration.

• Friday, May 24th 2013 - 07:50 UTC

  Pacific Alliance agrees to eliminate tariffs for 90% of goods beginning July

  

  The Alliance of the Pacific bloc that includes Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Chile on Thursday agreed to eliminate tariffs on most goods to promote free trade between the countries and increase exports to Asia.

• Friday, May 24th 2013 - 07:36 UTC

  South America re-election rash: Ecuador’s Correa takes office for the third consecutive time

  

  Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa will be inaugurated on Friday for his third consecutive mandate, something which Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez just managed before his death, and something which Bolivia’s Evo Morales aspires.

• Thursday, May 23rd 2013 - 07:01 UTC

  Cristina Fernandez administration limits overseas dollar extractions to a minimum

  

  Continuing with the so called ‘dollar clamp’ Argentine institutions issuing credit cards will further limit the extraction of dollars from automatic cashiers: travellers to neighbouring countries will only be allowed 100 dollars every three months and those visiting non neighbouring countries, 800 dollars per month.

• Thursday, May 23rd 2013 - 00:45 UTC

  Penn calls for Dakar rally to cancel Bolivia unless a US citizen is released

  

  Actor and humanitarian Sean Penn called for the Dakar Rally to cancel its debut run in Bolivia unless an ailing American businessman being held under house arrest there is released. Penn, a friend of President Evo Morales has angered Bolivian authorities with his request.

• Wednesday, May 22nd 2013 - 23:08 UTC

  Argentina's Judicial Reform: A Farewell to the Rule of Law and the Separation of Powers.

  

  By Rodolfo Arrate (*) - The Argentine poet Jorge Luis Borges famously declared: “Democracy is an abuse of statistics”. Observing the evolution of the political regime in Argentina nowadays, the poet’s sentence may well have turned into a prophecy.

• Wednesday, May 22nd 2013 - 18:00 UTC

  China/Latam trade expanded 8% in 2012 and region’s deficit jumped to 6.6bn

  

  Latin America's trade deficit with China jumped to 6.6 billion dollars last year from only 150 million in 2011, according to an analysis by online publication Latinvex based on new data from the IMF. Total trade between China and Latin America grew 8% last year to 255.5bn which means the region’s trade with China is growing faster than with the United States, 6.2%.

• Wednesday, May 22nd 2013 - 06:03 UTC

  Uruguay: Mujica on a most ambitious mission to China after investments for ports and railways

  

  Uruguayan President Jose Mujica begins on Wednesday the longest and most ambitious of his overseas trips hoping to convince China to invest in infrastructure projects that are crucial for the development of the country and its foreign trade: a deep water port and recovering the rail cargo network.

• Wednesday, May 22nd 2013 - 05:56 UTC

  Uruguay joins the women’s presidential club: Mujica flies to China and Astori to Colombia

  

  For several days beginning Wednesday Uruguay, as its neighbours, Brazil and Argentina will be ruled by a woman. Lucia Topolansky, Fist Lady but also Senator and third in the succession line will become interim president since her husband is off on an official trip to China and Europe, and Vice-president Danilo Astori will be attending the Alliance of the Pacific summit in Colombia.

• Wednesday, May 22nd 2013 - 05:53 UTC

  Uruguay’s main problem is high inflation but no policy changes planned, says Astori

  

  Uruguay's main economic problem is high inflation, and policymakers will continue to use interest rates and bank reserve requirements to bring it under control, Vice President Danilo Astori said on Tuesday. Consumer prices in Uruguay rose 8.14% in the 12 months through April, far outside the country's official annual target range of 4 to 6%.