Flights to and from Argentina's capital Buenos Aires’ international airport were delayed on Tuesday after a union offshoot that represents baggage handlers for the national carrier, Aerolíneas Argentinas, went on strike to protest the company’s proposal to hire handlers for six-hour shifts.
Paraguay's Foreign minister Eladio Loizaga said on Monday that at the latest in early February Mercosur and the European Union would be exchanging their tariff reduction proposals for the much delayed free trade agreement. The deadline originally was December but it was delayed on request from Brussels.
With the decision over ongoing maritime dispute between Chile and Peru just weeks away, government officials on both sides insist relations between them are strong. On Jan. 27 Peru and Chile are set to find out who has legal ownership over 14,500 square miles of fishing waters off their borders, putting an end to a centuries-long dispute and ending a five year international court case.
The process of selling Pesca Chile continues, despite Pescanova's attempts to slow down the liquidation of the company and its Chilean subsidiaries until the situation of the Galician multinational in Spain is resolved.
Uruguayan president José Mujica said that members of Mercosur must readjust the block's legal framework ‘to make it work’ so that differences among its partners can be resolved in an institutional framework. He insisted on a review and amendment of mechanisms with greater flexibility and more adapted to current circumstances.
President Manuel Ortega said on Saturday that the construction of a massive inter-oceanic canal in Nicaragua that could significantly alter global trade would start at the end of 2014. Ortega gave a Chinese group a concession to manage the future shipping channel for 50 years, with the possibility to renew the contract for another 50.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro appointed seven new ministers. His announcement was made during an event with the Movement for Peace and Life. Venezuela has been shocked by the extent of crime and killings, which means according to private organizations stats that only two out of ten cases ever are caught and face trial.
The English business and finance weekly The Economist is no fan of Argentina's Cristina Fernandez but its articles have an expansive repercussion, and even when it does not add much to the current situation of Argentina, it does undoubtedly have a reference influence.
Brazilian consumer prices ended 2013 higher than expected at 5.91%, above the upper limit of the government target, after inflation surged in December, official statistics released Friday showed. The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) said last month's inflation figure of 0.92% was the highest for December since 2002, and compared with 0.54% a month earlier.
International airlines operating in Venezuela have 3.3 billion trapped because of currency controls, the International Air Transport Association, IATA, revealed. Airlines have to wait around 12 months for the government to convert their Bolivar earnings into dollars, with the time lag growing, according to the Venezuela Airline Association.