Latin America

• Saturday, December 8th 2012 - 04:07 UTC

  Bolivia signs Mercosur incorporation protocol and becomes sixth member

  

  Bolivian president Evo Morales subscribed on Friday the Mercosur incorporation protocol which makes it the sixth member of the regional group. The event took place in Brasilia during the Mercosur summit hosted by Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff.

• Saturday, December 8th 2012 - 03:54 UTC

  Mercosur summit rejects Falklands’ self-determination referendum

  

  Presidents from Mercosur full and associate members meeting in Brasilia rejected the coming Malvinas Islands self determination referendum and anticipated that whatever the result of the ballot “it will not alter at all the essence of the Malvinas question”.

• Saturday, December 8th 2012 - 03:51 UTC

  Venezuela has until 2016 to adapt to Mercosur tariffs and rules system

  

  Venezuela will adopt the Mercosur common external tariff in four annual stages which are scheduled to conclude in the first half of 2016, according to what was agreed at the summit held Friday in Brasilia and reported by Brazilian diplomatic sources. This was Venezuela’s first summit as a full member of the South American trade and political block.

• Saturday, December 8th 2012 - 03:47 UTC

  Bolivian industry warns about the Mercosur ‘straight jacket’ and protectionism

  

  The incorporation of Bolivia to Mercosur must not become a “straight jacket” that leaves the country with no margin to negotiate trade agreements with other regions, said the private business organization, Bolivia Foreign Trade Institution, IBCE

• Friday, December 7th 2012 - 17:04 UTC

  Chavez back in Venezuela after ten days in Cuba: “where’s the party”

  

  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returned from Cuba on Friday following cancer-related medical treatment, walking and joking at the airport in a first public appearance in three weeks that quashed rumours he might have been at death's door.

• Thursday, December 6th 2012 - 07:57 UTC

  Brazil anticipates Mercosur summit will confirm Paraguay’s suspension stands

  

  Paraguay must continue suspended from Mercosur following the group’s presidential summit on Friday, anticipated the head of the Latin American desk from the Brazilian Foreign ministry, Antonio Jose Ferreira Simoes.

• Thursday, December 6th 2012 - 07:49 UTC

  Latam needs structural reforms and equality to consolidate as economic power

  

  Economics and finance experts said Latin American must address structural reforms as part of the essential process to consolidate as an economic power and look after the Asian market.

• Thursday, December 6th 2012 - 07:45 UTC

  Brazil says President Chavez attendance to Mercosur summit is “uncertain”

  

  The presence of President Hugo Chavez at Friday’s Mercosur summit is “uncertain” reported the official Brazilian news agency on Wednesday adding that the organizers are waiting for a confirmation of his trip to Brasilia.

• Wednesday, December 5th 2012 - 19:27 UTC

  Brazil confident for 2014 Cup but recalls the “national tragedy” of 1950 when defeated by Uruguay

  

  Brazil must not repeat the “national tragedy” of losing the 2014 World Cup as it did when it hosted the event in 1950, the country’s Minister of Sport Aldo Rebelo said. “We cannot repeat the national tragedy of 1950 when we lost to Uruguay” Rebelo told foreign journalists visiting Brazil as part of the build up to the finals. “It was like losing to your younger brother.

• Wednesday, December 5th 2012 - 19:15 UTC

  Inflation in Uruguay remains out of target despite government efforts

  

  Uruguay’s inflation in November was over 9% in the last twelve months despite government efforts to contain it by agreeing a price freeze with leading supermarkets and having public utilities’ rates unchanged.