Mercosur

• Wednesday, September 18th 2013 - 01:55 UTC

  Paraguay expects to return to Mercosur in 2014; Chile offers closer links and access to the Pacific

  

  President Horacio Cartes said that during 2014 links between Paraguay and Mercosur will be fully re-established and by then all the skirmishes motivated by the access of Venezuela as full member of the group, “will be overcome”. However Cartes also mentioned that Paraguay, with support from Chile has a strategic access to the Pacific basin.

• Tuesday, September 17th 2013 - 07:10 UTC

  Argentina ratifies interest in Mercosur, but Brazil wants negotiations now

  

  The government of President Cristina Fernandez told the business community on Monday that Argentina has an interest in a ‘balanced’ negotiation between Mercosur and the European Union to reach a political, association and trade agreement. However the timetable approach of Argentina does not seem to fit with the rest of Mercosur, mainly Brazil.

• Monday, September 16th 2013 - 01:29 UTC

  Leading Spanish bank ready to lend 10bn dollars for infrastructure in Brazil

  

  Following a meeting with President Dilma Rousseff, Banco Santander Chairman Emilio Botin said that the Spanish bank has 10 billion dollars available to finance infrastructure projects in Brazil. He also anticipated that loan book growth at Banco Santander Brasil SA would be up about 10% in 2013.

• Monday, September 16th 2013 - 01:25 UTC

  Argentine official inflation 0.8% and 6.6% in eight months despite price agreements

  

  Argentina's Consumer Price Index (IPC) was of 0.8% in August, according to the INDEC statistics bureau, totalling 6.6% this year. Price hikes were mainly seen in food and beverage, household equipment and maintenance sectors. Meanwhile, entertainment costs went down in August.

• Monday, September 16th 2013 - 01:21 UTC

  Uruguay’s economy expands 5.6% in second quarter helped by hydroelectric production

  

  Uruguay's economy expanded 5.6% in the second quarter compared with the same period a year earlier and 2.1% compared with the first three months of this year, the central bank said in its quarterly report.

• Monday, September 16th 2013 - 01:19 UTC

  Cartes on a two-day visit to Pacific Alliance member Chile to promote trade and investments

  

  Paraguayan president Horacio Cartes begins on Monday a two-day visit to Chile where he is scheduled to meet his peer Sebastián Piñera and hold a round of talks with business people inviting them to invest in Paraguay. At the end of the month Cartes will be flying to Brasilia to meet President Dilma Rousseff.

• Sunday, September 15th 2013 - 20:22 UTC

  Brazil forecasted to become the leading country in soybean production

  

  Brazil is to top the world soybean production league for the first time, thanks to the incentive to farmers provided from resilient prices and a weak Real, overtaking the US, whose hopes have been dented by drought.

• Sunday, September 15th 2013 - 19:22 UTC

  The hurdles faced by Bachelet to achieve her promise of reforming Chilean education

  Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet legacy lives heavily in a country which has had a spectacular economic performance since the return of democracy, but remains lame in several social and political issues.

• Sunday, September 15th 2013 - 19:15 UTC

  Latam’s cash transfer programs have proven more effective in combating poverty

  

  Latin America’s cash transfer programs are a more effective weapon against poverty and social inequality than economic growth alone, according to a study by two local economists.

• Sunday, September 15th 2013 - 18:17 UTC

  Brazil and Argentina to coordinate cyber defense to address espionage challenge

  

  Argentine Defence Minister Agustín Rossi and his Brazilian counterpart Celso Amorim issued a joint statement with cyber-defence taking the centre stage of the bilateral agenda, during the official ceremony at the Libertador building, seat of the Defence ministry in Buenos Aires.