Mercosur

• Saturday, February 6th 2016 - 07:00 UTC

  Argentina close to a full agreement with holdouts: US$ 6.5bn offer to end the litigation

  

  Argentina offered a $6.5 billion cash payment to creditors suing the country over defaulted bonds on Friday, seeking to end an exhausting 14-year legal battle, “the sovereign debt trial of the century”, that transformed the country into a financial markets pariah. Two out of six leading bondholders have already accepted the offer, the U.S. court-appointed mediator said, hailing the proposal by Argentina's new, business-friendly government as an “historic breakthrough”.

• Saturday, February 6th 2016 - 06:22 UTC

  Falklands' population in 'constrictive' trend, says Argentine team on the field

  

  The Falklands' population composition can be described as 'constrictive' since there is a tendency to ageing in the population pyramid, in other words there are more elderly people than children. Comments belong to a member of an Argentine team of geography and migration experts from a university in Santa Fe province (Universidad Nacional del Litoral, UNL), who have been granted scholarships to collect such data from the Islands, based on a project the team presented.

• Saturday, February 6th 2016 - 05:31 UTC

  Brazil's inflation at 12-year high in January driven by food and transportation prices

  

  Brazil's inflation rate rose to a 12-year high, officials said on Friday, as Latin America's largest economy continues to struggle through a protracted recession. Driven by rising food prices, the annual inflation rate hit 10.71%, the highest since November 2003 and well beyond the central bank's target ceiling of 6.5%, said national statistics institute IBGE.

• Wednesday, January 27th 2016 - 06:42 UTC

  Parlasur could invite Falklanders', but first Macri must cracks the “chavista axis”

  

  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'.

• Monday, January 4th 2016 - 06:35 UTC

  Argentine ex foreign minister Taiana speaker of Mercosur parliament during 2016

  

  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.

• Wednesday, December 30th 2015 - 14:10 UTC

  Two ex ministers with prison sentences for Buenos Aires train accident that killed 51 and injured 789

  

  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.

• Wednesday, December 30th 2015 - 02:24 UTC

  Russian polar vessel and helicopters will supply Argentine Antarctica bases

  

  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.

• Wednesday, December 30th 2015 - 00:51 UTC

  Dismal prospects for Brazilian economy in 2016, according to Central bank and budget deficit

  

  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.

• Wednesday, December 30th 2015 - 00:46 UTC

  Petrobras corruption 'net' involves Norwegian companies, claim Oslo media

  

  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.

• Tuesday, December 29th 2015 - 21:54 UTC

  Environmental groups blame massive deforestation for floods in Mercosur members

  

  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.