Latin America

• Wednesday, May 15th 2013 - 21:59 UTC

  Paraguay on Independence Day blasts Argentina and Brazil over “power resource exploitation”

  

  President Federico Franco said Paraguay has long cancelled its debts for the construction of two huge shared hydroelectric dams with its powerful neighbours and demanded Argentina pay for the surplus energy it receives and compensation for flooding Paraguayan territory.

• Wednesday, May 15th 2013 - 07:46 UTC

  Cristina Fernandez pledges she will not propose any constitutional reform

  

  Argentine President Cristina Fernández defended her controversial judiciary reform and announced that deep reforms require “amendments to the Constitution”. However, she emphasized she would not push any initiative in that sense.

• Wednesday, May 15th 2013 - 07:38 UTC

  Allegations of a network of corruption money involves former president Kirchner

  

  Argentine and Uruguayan magistrates and prosecutors are investigating an alleged network of corruption money, and probably money laundering involving former president Nestor Kirchner and close political and business cronies some of which continue in key positions or proximity to current head of state Cristina Fernandez.

• Wednesday, May 15th 2013 - 07:24 UTC

  Uruguay awards French company contract for 1.2bn dollars re-gasification plant

  

  Uruguay awarded French gas and power group GDF Suez SA a contract to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) re-gasification plant at an estimated cost of 1.125 billion dollars, the government said on Tuesday.

• Tuesday, May 14th 2013 - 23:13 UTC

  Venezuela net importer of gasoline in 2012 because of Amuay refinery fire

  

  Venezuela in 2012 became a net importer of gasoline as a result of escalating problems at its refineries and increasing demand for fuel in its internal market, joining a growing list of countries that struggle with fuel supplies despite ample oil reserves.

• Tuesday, May 14th 2013 - 23:04 UTC

  Record FDI year confirms Latam as commodities supplier but with little technology input

  

  Latin America and the Caribbean received last year a record 173.361 billion dollars in foreign direct investment (FDI) (6.7% more than in 2011), despite an international context characterized by shrinking FDI flows worldwide, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

• Tuesday, May 14th 2013 - 23:00 UTC

  New WTO chief says it’s time for ‘modulating’ ambition and pushing protectionism back

  

  Brazil’s Roberto Azevedo vowed to revive the deadlocked World Trade Organisation, as he was confirmed this week as the incoming leader of the body which sets the rules for global commerce.

• Tuesday, May 14th 2013 - 18:58 UTC

  Argentine inflation controversy: court vindicates private stats agencies

  

  An Argentine appeals court threw out the fines that Domestic Trade Secretary Guillermo Moreno had slapped on private firms that issued inflation estimates that were much higher than the government’s official rate.

• Tuesday, May 14th 2013 - 06:58 UTC

  Under Brazilian suggestion, Maduro says he is prepared for political dialogue with Capriles

  

  Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro said he is prepared for political dialogue with the leader of the opposition Henrique Capriles to ensure peace in the country, even if it means “talking to the devil”. He also warned that United States must “give a huge leap forward” if relations as equals are to be advanced between Caracas and Washington.

• Tuesday, May 14th 2013 - 06:36 UTC

  Petrobras completes record bond offering and collects 11 billion dollars

  

  Brazil’s state-controlled oil firm Petrobras sold 11 billion dollars of global debt on Monday in the largest-ever bond offering by a Latin American company. The deal was split in six tranches comprised of fixed- and floating-rate debt with maturities ranging from three to 30 years, according to a report from Thomson Reuters.