
Argentine Economy minister Axel Kicillof left Buenos Aires on Thursday for Brazil, where he will meet with fellow ministers from the country to discuss the current situation of bilateral trade and the automotive industry.

Chile is ready to act as a 'bridge' between Mercosur and the Alliance of the Pacific so that Latin American can have a greater presence in the world state, said Chilean Deputy foreign minister Edgardo Riveros during a conference in Sao Paulo at the Lula da Silva think-tank.

Argentina's government will use an anti-terrorism law for the first time to seek criminal charges against a U.S.-based international printing firm which closed its Argentine plant without warning, president Cristina Fernández said on Thursday. She linked the company to some of the hedge funds in litigation with Argentina over defaulted bonds.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) will hold an auction on August 21 to settle Argentina’s default swaps. The auction, run by Creditex and Markit, will determine the payout that holders of protection on Argentine debt (CDS) will receive as a result of the default on July 30.

The US dollar in Argentine money markets continued its rising path on Thursday with a new record climb to close at 13.20 Pesos. This so-called “blue” dollar had jumped 20 cents to 13.15 pesos on Wednesday, breaking its 13.06 Pesos record from 23 January.

July consumer prices index in Argentina according to the so called Congressional index, climbed 2,47% and 39.71% in the last twelve months. The same index marked 2.2% in June indicating a growing tendency.

The House of Representatives approved this week a draft agreement to ban trawling in Chile. With 55 votes in support, six against and five abstentions, the deputies voted in favor of the Draft Resolution No. 100, which requests the Executive to submit a legislative initiative to amend Article 49 of Act No. 18,892 in order to ban fish catching by trawling.

Under the heading of The sage of Montevideo, The Economist visited the Uruguayan president at his farmhouse in the outskirts of Montevideo where they had a long chat.

Chile has become a single territory for telecommunications and long distance calls with different rates for fixed lines will no longer exist beginning Saturday. This in practical terms will also means a 50% reduction on normal phone calls.

Argentine state-controlled energy company YPF on Thursday announced a shale oil find in the southwestern province of Neuquen in Patagonia. The discovery was made at the Agrio formation, according to CEO Miguel Galuccio, who said at a press conference that production operations will be carried from the neighboring province of Mendoza.