Latin America

• Tuesday, June 3rd 2014 - 05:26 UTC

  Latin America losing its competitive edge as demand for commodities slows down

  

  The United States ranks as the most competitive country in the world in a survey of 60 countries by IMD, a leading global business school in Switzerland. The survey finds Europe is recovering some of its competitive edge, while emerging economies, particularly in Latin America are struggling to hold their own.

• Monday, June 2nd 2014 - 08:21 UTC

  Moody's upgrades Uruguay's rating to Baa3, based on reduced 'vulnerabilities'

  

  Moody's Investors Service last Friday announced it had upgraded Uruguay's government bond rating to Baa2 from Baa3, and assigned a stable outlook to the Baa2 rating. The upgrade was driven by the strengthening of Uruguay's sovereign credit profile, as reflected by the convergence of fiscal and debt metric, an overall government debt profile that is currently associated with moderate credit risks, and the country's reduced vulnerabilities to regional and commodity shocks.

• Monday, June 2nd 2014 - 07:55 UTC

  Former guerrilla commander sworn in as El Salvador president

  

  Former guerrilla commander Salvador Sanchez Ceren on Sunday was sworn in as president of El Salvador for the second consecutive five-year mandate of the FMLN, an ex-guerrilla movement and current political party.

• Monday, June 2nd 2014 - 07:13 UTC

  Vazquez, Lacalle Pou and Bordaberry: one the three will be Uruguay's next president

  

  Sunday's primaries in Uruguay cleared the way for the candidates of the four parties with legislative representation that will be disputing the presidential election next October 26, with a run-off a month later if none of them manages 50% plus one of ballots.

• Monday, June 2nd 2014 - 01:09 UTC

  Pacific Alliance to hold round of integration 'informative' talks with Mercosur

  

  Pacific Alliance members meeting in Mexico agreed to hold an “informative” ministerial round of talks with their Mercosur and associates' counterparts to talk about regional integration. The announcement was done following a closed doors meeting of Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Peru foreign ministers who are preparing the agenda for the next Pacific Alliance summit.

• Saturday, May 31st 2014 - 07:03 UTC

  US Chamber of Commerce delegation on potential business tour of Cuba

  

  A delegation from the American Chamber of Commerce has begun its first visit to Cuba in 15 years. Chamber president Thomas Donohue said he was in Cuba to assess the economic changes taking place under President Raul Castro.

• Saturday, May 31st 2014 - 06:08 UTC

  Uruguay's FDI equivalent to 5% of GDP and mostly in alternative energies, said Eclac report

  

  Foreign direct investment in Uruguay totaled 2.79bn dollars last year, which is slightly higher than the 2.68bn of 2012, equivalent to 5% of GDP, according to the latest report on FDI for the region from the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.

• 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.