Latin America

• Saturday, July 21st 2012 - 07:51 UTC

  Chavez confirms Dilma’s invitation to Mercosur meeting in Rio on July 31

  

  Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez said he had talked with his peer from Brazil Dilma Rousseff who confirmed the invitation to an extraordinary meeting of Mercosur next July 31 in Rio do Janeiro.

• Saturday, July 21st 2012 - 07:45 UTC

  Good signals from the Brazilian economy: inflation picks up in mid July

  

  Consumer prices in Brazil rose faster than expected in the month to mid-July on higher food costs, suggesting the central bank may have less room than previously believed to cut interest rates much further.

• Saturday, July 21st 2012 - 07:38 UTC

  Brazilian government cuts 2012 growth forecast from 4.5% to 3%

  

  The Brazilian government said Friday it was cutting its economic growth forecast for this year from 4.5% to 3% due to the impact of the global slowdown. However the figure is still higher than the 2.5% predicted by the Central Bank.

• Saturday, July 21st 2012 - 07:28 UTC

  EU considering a new round of discussions with Mercosur before end of 2012

  

  The European Union - Mercosur trade negotiations calendar has been delayed and its full resumption is expected to take place in September or soon after, reports the EU press office in Montevideo.

• Saturday, July 21st 2012 - 06:59 UTC

  Bolivia raids the offices of India’s Jindal alleging “breach of contract”

  

  Bolivian prosecutors with the support from police and military forces on Friday raided the offices of India’s Jindal in La Paz as part of an investigation for an alleged “breach of contract” following the company’s confirmation it was abandoning the huge iron-ore mining project of El Mutún.

• Saturday, July 21st 2012 - 06:28 UTC

  US members of Congress blame the UN for introducing cholera to Haiti

  

  More than 100 Democrats from the US House of Representatives have called on the UN to take responsibility for introducing cholera to Haiti. It is the latest twist in the allegation that UN peacekeepers unwittingly introduced the disease.

• Friday, July 20th 2012 - 07:53 UTC

  Repsol sells 540 million dollars in assets in Chile as part of divestment program

  

  Spain’s Repsol said on Thursday it has reached an agreement with a consortium of Chilean investors, led by LarrainVial, for the sale of 100% of its subsidiary Repsol Butano Chile for approximately 540 million dollars.

• Friday, July 20th 2012 - 07:37 UTC

  Mexican president-elect accused of laundering money in his campaign

  

  Mexico's ruling conservatives lent their support to accusations that President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto benefited from laundered money in his campaign, piling more pressure on the country's next leader.

• Thursday, July 19th 2012 - 08:23 UTC

  Bolivia agrees to sell more gas to Argentina under an ‘interruptible’ contract

  

  Argentina and Bolivia signed on Wednesday new agreements to increase the sale of Bolivian natural gas to its southern neighbour but the controversial issue of a price review went unnoticed.

• Thursday, July 19th 2012 - 08:09 UTC

  Cuba suspends carnival festivities to prevent spread of cholera outbreak

  

  Traditional summer carnivals in the eastern Cuban cities of Bayamo and Manzanillo have been suspended due to an outbreak of cholera in the region, authorities said on Wednesday.