Latin America

• Saturday, May 31st 2014 - 06:05 UTC

  Brazil's economy grows 0.2% in the first quarter and 1.9% in twelve months

  

  Brazil's economy grew 0.2% in the first quarter compared to the final three months of 2013, a pace slower than economists had forecast, the government said Friday. Meanwhile GDP rose 1.9% relative to the first quarter of 2013, according to figures released by the state-run Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, or IBGE.

• Friday, May 30th 2014 - 05:19 UTC

  Uruguay parties chose presidential candidates in next Sunday's primaries

  

  Uruguay closed on Thursday the primaries election campaign ahead of Sunday's vote when the different parties will be choosing their candidates for the big presidential contest on the last Sunday of October. Whoever is elected in October or in the November run-off will succeed President Jose Mujica on March 2015.

• Thursday, May 29th 2014 - 06:26 UTC

  Argentina is the most protectionist country of the region” claims Astori

  

  Uruguay's vice-president Danilo Astori said that Argentina is “the most protectionist country in the region” and again questioned the effectiveness of Mercosur arguing that Uruguay can't forget the region but can't be expected to remain idle.

• Thursday, May 29th 2014 - 05:51 UTC

  Brazil's central bank opted to leave rate unchanged at 11%, “at this moment”

  

  Brazil left its benchmark interest rate unchanged on Wednesday. In a unanimous decision, the central bank's monetary policy committee, Copom, kept the Selic rate at 11%, breaking a streak of nine consecutive hikes as expected by a majority of analysts and market traders.

• Thursday, May 29th 2014 - 00:35 UTC

  Three Latam presidents among Forbes list of 25 most powerful women

  

  Brazil, Argentina and Chile presidents figure among the list of the 25 most powerful women in the world according to the latest release from Forbes. Dilma Rousseff ranks in fourth place, Cristina Fernandez 19 and Michele Bachelet, 25. Only nine heads of state figure in the 100 names list.

• Wednesday, May 28th 2014 - 08:52 UTC

  Caribbean Community moving closer to decriminalization of marihuana

  

  The Jamaica government is being urged to enact legislation that would decriminalize marijuana as well as establish a medical marijuana industry. The Cannabis Commercial and Medicinal Research Taskforce said Jamaica would significantly benefit from a regulates medical marihuana industry.

• Tuesday, May 27th 2014 - 08:23 UTC

  Malvinas and Bolivia's ocean outlet, the 'two open wounds' of Latin America

  

  Latin America has two open wounds, the Malvinas Islands and Bolivia's sovereign outlet to the Pacific, said Bolivian vice-president Alvaro Garcia Linera in Mendoza, Argentina where he was awarded an 'Honoris Causa” for his commitment to regional integration and inclusion.

• Tuesday, May 27th 2014 - 08:16 UTC

  UK company reaches compensation agreement with Bolivian government

  

  Bolivia has agreed to pay 31.7 million dollars to British electric utility Rurelec as compensation for the 2010 nationalization of its controlling stake in power producer Empresa Electrica Guaracachi, 10 million less than the amount determined by an arbitration tribunal, the Attorney General's Office said.

• Monday, May 26th 2014 - 21:55 UTC

  Uruguay and Denmark top the list of ITUC Global Rights Index

  

  A global leader-board in the race to protect workers’ rights was released at the ITUC World Congress in Berlin. The ITUC Global Rights Index ranks 139 countries against 97 internationally recognized indicators to assess where workers’ rights are best protected, in law and in practice.

• Monday, May 26th 2014 - 07:50 UTC

  Colombia: Zuluaga and Santos, plus allies, will decide on the peace dialogue on 15 June

  

  Right-wing opposition candidate Oscar Ivan Zuluaga won most votes in Colombia's presidential election on Sunday but fell short of a first-round victory and will face President Juan Manuel Santos in a close runoff on 15 June.