Latin America

• Friday, August 2nd 2013 - 02:29 UTC

  Uruguay extends another 12 months VAT benefits for foreign tourists

  

  Uruguay extended for another twelve months the VAT bonus for those tourists who pay for purchases, lodging and rents with debit cards. The measure was announced this week by Deputy cabinet chief Diego Canepa following a full ministerial meeting and in anticipation of the coming 2013/14 summer season.

• Thursday, August 1st 2013 - 04:09 UTC

  “Not even the Pope could bring Brazil and Paraguay together”, said O’Globo

  

  Influential Latin American newspapers have been extremely critical of Brazilian diplomacy in its unsuccessful attempts to ‘subdue Paraguay’, while at the same praising the landlocked country’s dignity in demanding from Mercosur respect and compliance with the rule of the law.

• Thursday, August 1st 2013 - 04:04 UTC

  Cristina Fernandez says unemployment is down to 7.2% but calls for more job creation

  

  Argentina's unemployment rate fell to 7.2% in the second quarter of 2013 compared with 7.9% in the first quarter of the year, President Cristina Fernandez announced during a speech praising her government’s industrialization and added-value policies.

• Thursday, August 1st 2013 - 03:56 UTC

  Uruguay passes bill legalizing marijuana split on party lines; Senate discussion next October

  

  Uruguay's lower house passed a marijuana legalization bill on Wednesday which now must be discussed by the Senate, most probably in October. The vote brings Uruguay one step closer to becoming the first country to legally regulate production, distribution and sale of the drug.

• Thursday, August 1st 2013 - 03:19 UTC

  Obama propose political consultant and elite fund-raiser as next ambassador in Argentina

  

  The White House has confirmed that US president Barack Obama has proposed fellow Democratic Party member Noah Mamet as the new ambassador in Buenos Aires, to replace outgoing incumbent Vilma Martínez.

• Thursday, August 1st 2013 - 02:59 UTC

  Brazil criticizes IMF for latest aid to Greece: worst fears could be confirmed

  

  A group of Latin American countries refused to back an IMF move this week to keep bankrolling Greece, citing risks of non-repayment, and the Fund itself said Athens might need faster debt relief from Europe.

• Wednesday, July 31st 2013 - 06:31 UTC

  Paraguay downplays Mujica’s warning calling for a ‘pragmatic’ return to Mercosur

  

  Paraguay’s incoming government foreign policy advisor Eladio Loizaga downplayed Mercosur veiled warning calling for a quick return of the country to the block because ‘Paraguay is landlocked and needs the Parana River and the River Plate to reach the sea’.

• Wednesday, July 31st 2013 - 06:14 UTC

  UN calls on Chile to stop using anti-terrorism law against indigenous Mapuches

  

  A United Nations investigator on Tuesday urged Chile’s government to stop using an anti-terrorism law against Mapuche Indians who are fighting to recover their ancestral land.

• Wednesday, July 31st 2013 - 06:09 UTC

  Ecuador’s Correa pondering whether to join Mercosur or the Pacific Alliance

  

  President Rafael Correa said that the determining factor for Ecuador to join as full member of Mercosur or the Alliance of the Pacific is the ‘flexibility’ granted in certain admission conditions, taking into account the fact that Ecuador does not have a national currency.

• Wednesday, July 31st 2013 - 06:00 UTC

  Brazil’s next soybean crop expected to increase 9% to a record 89.1 million tons

  

  Brazil’s 2013/14 soybean crop that starts planting in September is expected to grow by 9% under normal weather conditions to a record 89.1 million tons, local crop analyst AgRural said in a release.