Latin America

• Monday, May 27th 2013 - 07:18 UTC

  “The Malvinas are Argentine, but also Latinamerican” says President Correa

  

  “The Malvinas Islands are not only Argentine, they are Latinamerica”, said Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa who claimed it was time to put an end to the ‘colonial situation’ of the disputed Islands in the South Atlantic and blasted the Organization of American States, OAS for dragging its feet on this and other crucial issues for the continent.

• Monday, May 27th 2013 - 02:59 UTC

  Colombia and rebels reach agreement of agrarian reform and development of rural areas

  

  Colombia and the Marxist-led FARC rebels have reached agreement on the critical issue of agrarian reform, the two sides said in what appeared to be a major step forward for the peace process aimed at ending their long war.

• Monday, May 27th 2013 - 02:54 UTC

  Brazil warns Uruguay on Pacific Alliance plans: Mercosur can only act as ‘a block’

  

  Mercosur must negotiate any possible incorporation to the Alliance of the Pacific “as a block” since it is important that its member countries remain ‘united’ and respect the current charter, said the Mercosur High Representative, Ambassador Ivan Ramalho from Brazil.

• Monday, May 27th 2013 - 01:49 UTC

  Paraguay demands respect from Mercosur, “if not leave us as we are”

  

  The Argentine ambassador to Uruguay, Dante Dovena, assured that authorities are “working intensely” in preparations for the next Mercosur summit scheduled to take place on June 28th in Montevideo. However news form Paraguay doesn’t indicate the same optimism and are demanding respect for ‘the country’s dignity and rule of the law”.

• Saturday, May 25th 2013 - 05:34 UTC

  Falkland Islands elected lawmaker will attend C24 regional seminar in Ecuador

  

  Falkland Islands elected lawmaker Mike Summers will attend next week the Caribbean Regional Seminar of the Special Committee on Decolonization which is to be held in Quito, Ecuador in anticipation of the main C24 annual meeting in New York.

• Saturday, May 25th 2013 - 05:16 UTC

  Former Guatemalan president extradited to face money laundering charges in US

  

  Former Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo was extradited on Friday to the United States to face money laundering charges, the US embassy in Guatemala said. A US grand jury decided in 2009 that Portillo, who was in office from 2000 to 2004, should face charges that he laundered 70 million dollars through US banks.

• Saturday, May 25th 2013 - 05:11 UTC

  Brazil’s employment rate remains stable but job creation slowed in recent months

  

  Brazil's jobless rate rose slightly in April for the fourth straight month but remained near record lows, suggesting that tight labour conditions bolstered a gradual recovery and fed into inflation, statistics agency IBGE said this week.

• Saturday, May 25th 2013 - 04:29 UTC

  Paraguay becomes observer of the Alliance of the Pacific, despite Brazil and Mercosur

  

  The Alliance of the Pacific announced this week that Paraguay had been accepted as an observer of the regional group. Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos chair and host of the alliance summit in Cali made it official during the reading of the final declaration.

• Friday, May 24th 2013 - 07:50 UTC

  Pacific Alliance agrees to eliminate tariffs for 90% of goods beginning July

  

  The Alliance of the Pacific bloc that includes Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Chile on Thursday agreed to eliminate tariffs on most goods to promote free trade between the countries and increase exports to Asia.

• Friday, May 24th 2013 - 07:36 UTC

  South America re-election rash: Ecuador’s Correa takes office for the third consecutive time

  

  Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa will be inaugurated on Friday for his third consecutive mandate, something which Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez just managed before his death, and something which Bolivia’s Evo Morales aspires.