Latin America

• Saturday, December 21st 2013 - 21:22 UTC

  Uruguay Economy minister resigns over scandal involving flag air carrier Pluna

  

  Uruguay's economy minister Fernando Lorenzo resigned on Saturday in the face of questions over the alleged irregular sale of government-owned airplanes following the closure of Pluna, the country's flag carrier, President Jose Mujica announced at a brief press conference, with no questions taken, next to Vice president Danilo Astori.

• Saturday, December 21st 2013 - 01:59 UTC

  Uruguay's ruling coalition ends 2013 with a majority lead in public opinion

  

  Uruguay's ruling coalition, Broad Front, is closing 2013 with a strong 44% electoral support, which is higher than all the opposition put together, according to the latest Mori public opinion poll on vote intention and support for the presidential hopefuls

• Friday, December 20th 2013 - 06:48 UTC

  Stiglitz says China demand for better diet will keep Mercosur countries busy

  

  The commodities-exporting economies of Latin America will continue expanding in the years ahead, driven by demand from China despite slower growth in its economy, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said during a conference round in Uruguay.

• Friday, December 20th 2013 - 06:35 UTC

  After fifty years Cubans can now buy and sell cars, but for most non affordable

  

  Cubans will be able to buy new and second-hand cars from state-run retailers without a permit under new rules approved by President Raul Castro's government. The measure, announced Thursday by the official media, is another step in Castro's plan to “modernize” the island's socialist economy and lift decades-old market restrictions.

• Friday, December 20th 2013 - 06:28 UTC

  US planning a new trade agreement with Latam, but through NAFTA

  

  The President Barack Obama administration is “exploring” a regional trade plan for the Americas that would be the most ambitious hemispheric initiative in years, but contrary to the failed experience of George Bush's FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas), this time it would be instrumented through Nafta (North American Free Trade Agreement) partners Mexico and Canada, according to a Miami Herald interview of Andres Oppenheimer with Secretary of State John Kerry.

• Thursday, December 19th 2013 - 05:51 UTC

  Concerned with stagnant tourism, Caribbean to promote the region as a single destination

  

  The Barbados-based Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) will next month celebrate its 25th anniversary amidst a call for the region to be promoted as a single destination. CTO Chairman, Beverly Nicholson Doty, in a Christmas message, said that her wish for the sector in 2014 was that Caribbean countries commit themselves to promoting the region as one destination

• Wednesday, December 18th 2013 - 07:15 UTC

  Heat wave in Argentina collapses power grid: thousands with no energy or water

  

  People out in the streets banging pots and pans, or protesting burning tires and garbage containers in powerless neighborhoods, while an estimated 30.000 businesses in Buenos Aires City and metropolitan area are organizing demanding compensation for losses suffered because of the collapse of the power distribution system overwhelmed by an extraordinary heat wave with temperatures in the high thirties and low forties.

• Wednesday, December 18th 2013 - 06:29 UTC

  Paraguay set to approve Venezuela Mercosur membership this Wednesday, ending 18-month rift

  

  Paraguay is waiting for the formality of a Wednesday vote in the Lower House floor to acknowledge the controversial incorporation of Venezuela as full member of Mercosur, putting an end to an 18 months political and diplomatic rift in the block. The Deputies' Constitution Affairs and Foreign Affairs committees on Tuesday afternoon approved Venezuela's Mercosur incorporation protocol, which means all is ready for the full house expected positive vote.

• Tuesday, December 17th 2013 - 19:10 UTC

  Uruguay must address fiscal policy (and inflation) suggests leading private bank

  

  The US dollar is poised to continue consolidating during 2014 in Uruguay, and will most probably by the end of the year reach 24 Pesos from the current 21 Pesos, according to Itaú, one of the leading private banks in the country, which also warned about inflation and the fiscal deficit.

• Tuesday, December 17th 2013 - 02:28 UTC

  Uruguayan economy on track to 4.1% growth this year and in 2014

  

  The Uruguayan economy contracted 0.7% in the third quarter compared to the previous quarter, although it jumped 3.3% over the same period a year ago, according to the latest release from the Central bank in Montevideo. During the second quarter, the expansion had reached 2.4%, and 1.5% previous to that.