
The Argentine representation in the Mercosur parliament, Parlasur, is considering inviting a group of 'kelpers' Falklands/Malvinas lawmakers, 'to listen to their needs and promote cooperation, but in the framework of Argentina's unrenounceable sovereignty claim over the Islands'.

Argentina's former foreign affairs minister under ex president Cristina Fernandez, Jorge Taiana has been nominated speaker of the Mercosur Parliament in Montevideo, as of this month and year.

An Argentine court handed down prison sentences of up to nine years for those charged in the February 2012 train accident in Buenos Aires that killed 51 people and injured more than 700.

For the eighth season, Argentina's Antarctic bases and stations are to be supplied by the Russian polar vessel Vasily Golovnin from Arkadia Ltd. This has been going on since 2007 when the Argentine flagship ice-breaker Almirante Irizar caught fire in the high seas and is still in repairs waiting for the necessary funds.

Analysts expect Brazil's economy to contract by 2.81% in 2016 after contracting by 3.70% this year, marking the biggest drop in economic output in 25 years, the Central Bank said on Monday. Economists are forecasting an inflation rate of 10.72% this year, the highest rate in 13 years, and 6.86% in 2016. The estimates seem to be supported by the latest numbers referred to the budget deficit.

The huge corruption case swirling around Brazilian oil company Petrobras is being called the world’s largest, and increasing numbers of Norwegian companies seem to be getting tangled up in it. Norwegian bosses mostly claim no knowledge of any bribes being paid, but investigations are underway on several fronts.

Deforestation is one of the main causes of the floods in South America that have left at least 160,000 people, 25,000 of them in Argentina alone, homeless, environmental groups said.

Tierra del Fuego tourism industry praised the Argentine government's decisions to end the dollar clamp and make more transparent the foreign money exchange because this will make the country, and Tierra del Fuego, highly competitive internationally. However they also cautioned that consideration must be given to domestic and regional tourists which make up almost 45% of the number of the people visiting the extreme south of Argentina.

Argentine president Mauricio Macri pledged full support for Mercosur which he defined as a 'long term strategic project', called for a quick trade agreement with the European Union and closer ties with 'our partners from the Pacific Alliance'.

Mercosur full and associate members ended their Paraguay summit signing six joint statements, one of which in support of Argentina's sovereignty claim over the Falklands/Malvinas Islands and rejecting 'non authorized' hydrocarbons exploration in the Argentine continental shelf. This is the first regional document related to the Falkland Islands Argentine claim since Mauricio Macri took office last 10 December.