Latin America

• Friday, March 18th 2016 - 03:03 UTC

  It's official: Mercosur and EU will exchange offers for a trade accord on 8 April

  

  Argentina is willing to “make concessions” in order to move forward with a free-trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union (EU), which will likely allow a greater export of agricultural produce, according to Argentina's Trade Secretary Miguel Braun who then reveled that trade offers will be exchanged on April 8.

• Wednesday, March 16th 2016 - 07:24 UTC

  Latin American fiscal weakness and lack of 'tax culture' addressed in ECLAC forum

  

  Evasion is one of the main weaknesses of the tax systems in the Latin America and the Caribbean economies, accounting for 320 billion dollars in 2014 - according to the Fiscal Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean 2016, launched by the UN regional office, ECLAC, in Santiago de Chile.

• Wednesday, March 16th 2016 - 07:18 UTC

  OAS observers to the Dominican Republic general elections on 15 May

  

  The Organization of American States (OAS) and the Government of the Dominican Republic signed formal agreements by which the hemispheric institution will send an Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) to the general elections of May 15, which will be headed by the former President of Colombia, Andrés Pastrana.

• Saturday, March 12th 2016 - 05:40 UTC

  Chile's challenge: disposing 27.700 tons of algae/bloom dead salmon

  

  More than 27,733 tons, equivalent to 72% of the total salmon mortality caused by algae bloom, have been removed from the farms affected by this contingency, Chile's National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (Sernapesca) informed. In a new report on the emergency affecting the salmon farming industry in the Chilean southern region of Los Lagos, Sernapesca pointed out that 38 farms have been affected by microalgae bloom in the Concession Groups (ACS) 1, 2, 3A, 6, 7, and 10B, with a total mortality amounting to 23.8 million fish, equivalent to more than 38,500 tons.

• Friday, March 11th 2016 - 20:47 UTC

  Odebrecht's involvement in Petrobras corruption scandal costing the conglomerate dearly

  

  The Odebrecht group of companies, whose top officials have been sentenced to prison for involvement in the corruption scheme of Brazil's largest company Petrobras, has come under strong pressure from its creditors to use the crown jewel, the petrochemical company Braskem as collateral to avoid filing for bankruptcy.

• Friday, March 11th 2016 - 05:22 UTC

  Purge in YPF; financial expert chosen as successor of Galuccio

  

  Miguel Ángel Gutiérrez looks is to become the new president of Argentina’s state-controlled energy giant YPF, it was revealed this week after Miguel Galuccio confirmed he will step down as head of the company on April 30.

• Friday, March 11th 2016 - 05:18 UTC

  Brazil's Odebrecht network of alleged bribery practices investigated in several Latin American countries

  

  Argentina is investigating whether the local unit of Brazil's Odebrecht paid bribes to government officials, an Argentine prosecutor said this week, deepening the regional fallout from the biggest corruption scandal in Brazil’s history.

• Thursday, March 10th 2016 - 21:28 UTC

  Catches of Peruvian giant squid are showing a slow recovery: shift of oceans winds

  

  Catches of Peruvian giant squid (Dosidicus gigas) are showing a slow recovery, something that has long been awaited not only by local fishermen and industrialists, but also by the largest processors in Europe and Asia.

• Thursday, March 10th 2016 - 06:26 UTC

  Falklands' sovereignty issues has been solved, says MLA Phyllis Rendell

  

  The member of the Falklands/Malvinas legislative assembly Phyllis Rendell on a private visit to Paraguay openly stated that the South Atlantic archipelago claimed by Argentina is a British Overseas Territory and underlined that the sovereignty issue was settled with a war between the two sides over thirty years ago.

• Tuesday, March 8th 2016 - 07:30 UTC

  Malcorra in Bolivia holds talks on energy, drug trafficking, science development and South Atlantic Islands

  

  Issues related to energy, drug trafficking and border controls, science and technology development, plus support for the South Atlantic Islands and adjoining maritime spaces claim, were among the main issues addressed by Argentina's foreign minister Susana Malcorra during her visit to Bolivia where she met president Evo Morales and her peer David Choquehuanca Cespedes.