Latin America

• Friday, August 17th 2012 - 07:16 UTC

  Latam support for Ecuador could turn Assange case in another ‘Falklands issue’ for UK

  

  Another major diplomatic conflict between South America and the UK, as with the Falkland Islands’ sovereignty dispute, could turn nasty following Latinamerican strong support for Ecuador and its granting of political asylum to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and London’s explicit determination to deny him a safe conduct and have him extradited to Sweden.

• Friday, August 17th 2012 - 06:56 UTC

  New Dominican president takes office: “my wife will help you look after the place”

  

  Economist Danilo Medina was sworn in on Thursday as the Dominican Republic's new president and pushed for a pact against poverty as he assumed the post. The economist, who belongs to the Dominican Liberation Party of outgoing President Leonel Fernandez, won May 20 election on a promise to raise the country's standard of living.

• Friday, August 17th 2012 - 00:11 UTC

  Latam business climate index at 9 months low, approaching “risk of recession”

  

  Latinamerica business climate dropped to its lowest level in nine months with “risk of recession” according to the index elaborated by the Economics Department from the prestigious Brazilian Getulio Vargas Foundation, FGV.

• Thursday, August 16th 2012 - 19:52 UTC

  Struggle for education reform in Chile: police arrest 70 students occupying schools

  

  Chilean police stormed on Thursday three schools in the centre of Santiago, overtaken by students for the past week, and arrested 70 young people who were involved in the protests demanding education reform.

• Thursday, August 16th 2012 - 19:27 UTC

  UK determined to extradite Assange in spite of asylum granted by Ecuador

  

  Ecuador has granted asylum to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange two months after he took refuge in its London embassy while fighting extradition from the UK, but Foreign Secretary William Hague said the UK would not allow Assange safe passage out of the country.

• Thursday, August 16th 2012 - 05:02 UTC

  China soon to become Venezuela’s main trade partner; oil sales soared 60% this year

  

  Venezuelan oil sales to China have jumped by 60% since the start of the year, the country's oil minister said in an interview published on Sunday in the state-run Correo del Orinoco.

• Thursday, August 16th 2012 - 04:52 UTC

  Unasur not after reinstatement of Lugo; wants political dialogue in Paraguay

  

  Unasur (Union of South American Nations) wants to closely accompany the democratic restoration process in Paraguay and is not after the reinstatement of removed president Fernando Lugo, said Peruvian Foreign Affairs minister Rafael Roncagliolo.

• Thursday, August 16th 2012 - 02:26 UTC

  Mujica working for more trade agreements and a Mercosur with ‘flexibility’

  

  Uruguay needs “new markets and new partners” and must try to diversify trade with the largest possible number of agreements to make Mercosur more flexible and anticipate the current process in Argentina, said President Jose Mujica.

• Thursday, August 16th 2012 - 01:29 UTC

  For consular purposes Uruguay considers Malvinas as the “dependent territory” of the Islas Falklands

  

  For consular purposes the Uruguayan Foreign Affairs ministry refers to the Malvinas Islands, which are claimed by Argentina with the support of Mercosur members, as the “dependent territory” of the “Islas Falklands”.

• Wednesday, August 15th 2012 - 23:50 UTC

  Uruguay discourages short-term capital inflow to ensure macroeconomic stability

  

  Uruguay's central bank unveiled measures on Wednesday aimed at cooling the local Peso's appreciation by discouraging foreign investment in the bank's short-term debt. To combat the Peso's rise, officials ordered that 40% of new foreign capital invested in central bank bills be frozen in an account at the central bank.