Latin America

• Saturday, December 7th 2013 - 06:34 UTC

  Brazil says Argentina will again open the doors to bilateral trade next week

  

  Argentina will from next week open the doors for Brazilian imports held up on the border between the two nations, including footwear and motor vehicles, according to Brazilian Minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade Fernando Pimentel.

• Saturday, December 7th 2013 - 06:03 UTC

  Brazil inflation slows down in November to an annualized 5.77%

  

  Brazil's annual inflation cooled in November falling to 5.77%, reported the Institute of Geography and Statistics, IBGE, on Friday. The November reading was the lowest since registering 5.84% in December 2012.

• Friday, December 6th 2013 - 07:05 UTC

  Brazil's central bank expected to keep current pace of interest rate increases

  

  Brazil's central bank said its current pace of interest rate increases remains appropriate to rein in consumer prices, repeating language it used to justify previous half-percentage-point increases, according to the November 26/27 minutes released on Thursday.

• Thursday, December 5th 2013 - 18:55 UTC

  UK and Germany support small scale renewable energy project in Chile

  

  The UK is supporting and helping finance the development of a 20 million-dollar small scale renewable energy project in Chile. The project will be financed from the joint UK-Germany NAMA (Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action) Facility and Chile's is only one in four of 47 projects worldwide that applied for this funding and reflects the quality of the Chilean application.

• Thursday, December 5th 2013 - 18:49 UTC

  Inflation in Uruguay during November climbs 0.2%, but still above target

  

  Consumer prices in Uruguay during November increased 0.2% over the previous month with annual inflation reaching 8.51% compared to the 8.67% of October. Nevertheless in the eleven months of 2013, consumer prices have climbed 9.31%, which is a whole percentage point higher than the same period a year ago, according to the latest release from the country's Stats Office, INE.

• Thursday, December 5th 2013 - 05:56 UTC

  Taking a positive Falklands message to Brazil

  

  “Unthinkable, unacceptable and unsupportable” was how Joanisval Brito Goncalves, Senior Legilslative Counselor for International Affairs and Defence Issues at the Brazilian Senate, described the Argentine government’s attitude to the Falkland/ Malvinas Islands in a press conference held in Stanley on Wednesday afternoon.

• Wednesday, December 4th 2013 - 06:00 UTC

  Blackout leaves Maduro speechless; blame falls on the fascist opposition'

  

  A huge power outage that darkened Venezuela's capital and parts of the country was a conspiracy to sabotage the Socialist government, according to Venezuela's President Nicholas Maduro. The blackout came five days ahead of Sunday's municipal elections.

• Tuesday, December 3rd 2013 - 21:06 UTC

  Argentines will have to spend summer holidays at home; tourist dollar up 35%

  

  In an attempt to stop the drain of Argentina Central Bank international reserves, the government of President Cristina Fernandez has decided to take the 20% income tax advance to 35% for all credit and debit card purchases made abroad. The move will also involve the purchase of dollars for Argentines travelling abroad with the US currency climbing now to 8.322 pesos.

• Tuesday, December 3rd 2013 - 17:38 UTC

  Chilean presidential candidates working together against voters' apathy

  

  Voter turnout in Chile's extreme north and south fell far short of national average, and candidates will look further afield for votes in upcoming elections December 15. As Chile’s presidential candidates turn their heads to the country’s far-flung regions, a report by La Tercera demonstrates the particularly high rates of abstention in rural areas in both the extreme north and south.

• Monday, December 2nd 2013 - 13:32 UTC

  Chile among leading exporters of 23 non-copper related products

  

  Chile leads the world in copper production but the country must do more to diversify its export-driven economy, according to experts. Precisely to diversify several government and industry bodies have spent years promoting Chile’s major non-mining related export items, which consist largely of produce, wood products and aquaculture.