Mercosur

• Wednesday, April 17th 2013 - 23:06 UTC

  After the megalomaniac years of Chavez Venezuela is ready for a sober Maduro

  

  By R. Viswanathan (*) - The election of Nicolas Maduro, the chosen heir of Chavez, in last Sunday’s election, is good news for the peaceful and orderly transition of Venezuela after the abnormal, autocratic and quixotic rule of Chavez in the last fourteen years. If Capriles had won, the change would have been abrupt and traumatic for the Chavistas who might not have given up power so easily without some messy fight.

• Tuesday, April 16th 2013 - 05:55 UTC

  ‘The Argentine joke’ and Cristina Fernandez as Pinocchio, headlines of Brazil’s influential magazine Veja

  

  One of Brazil’s most influential magazines and with the largest circulation, Veja, included a controversial piece which questions Argentina’s economic and social statistics than come under the responsibility of the non less famous Indec.

• Tuesday, April 16th 2013 - 04:57 UTC

  Leading Chavista calls for deep self-criticism following Sunday’s tight vote for Maduro

  

  The president of the Venezuelan parliament and vice-president of the ruling Chavista party, Diosdado Cabello underlined the significance of Sunday’s presidential election and Nicolas Maduro’s victory, but also admitted that the results demand a strong ‘self criticism’.

• Tuesday, April 16th 2013 - 02:43 UTC

  Brazil, Unasur full support for Maduro & question Capriles attitude; US and OAS more cautious

  

  Despite opposition protests demanding a ballot recount, congratulations are pouring in for Venezuela’s proclaimed President Nicolas Maduro: Brazil, Argentina, Russia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Cuba, Unasur, although the OAS and the US have adopted a more cautious attitude.

• Tuesday, April 16th 2013 - 02:39 UTC

  Maduro proclaimed elected president; Capriles continues to protest for a recount of ballots

  

  Venezuela's election authority on Monday formally proclaimed Nicolas Maduro the winner of Sunday's presidential vote, despite insistence by the opposition that the ceremony be suspended until a complete recount of votes was carried out given the very tight result.

• Monday, April 15th 2013 - 06:39 UTC

  Capriles won’t accept presidential result until “every vote is recounted, one by one”

  

  Denouncing election irregularities, Venezuelan opposition candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski demanded a recount and said early Monday that he will not recognize the country's presidential results ”until every vote is counted”. His comments came less than an hour after officials said the man former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez handpicked to be his successor had won the country's presidential vote.

• Monday, April 15th 2013 - 06:07 UTC

  Bad start for Maduro: Capriles showing debilitates him inside the Bolivarian nomenclature

  

  Following five hours of a long recount process Venezuela’s National Electoral Council announced early Monday morning that acting president Nicolas Maduro is the new head of state, having defeated Henrique Capriles by less than a two percentage point difference.

• Monday, April 15th 2013 - 03:10 UTC

  Mujica envoy to Buenos Aires to try and re-establish ‘normal contacts’ with Cristina Fernandez

  

  Uruguay’s Deputy Foreign minister Roberto Conde is scheduled to travel to Buenos Aires this week as part of President Jose Mujica’s administration efforts to rebuild bilateral relations with Argentina following his ‘coarse, jail-slang’ descriptions of president Cristina Fernandez and her late husband Nestor Kirchner, which were refuted as ‘unacceptable and denigrating”.

• Saturday, April 13th 2013 - 05:36 UTC

  Brazil determined to lower inflation; Central bank could raise Selic rate at next meeting

  

  Brazil's top two economic policymakers warned on Friday that high inflation will not be tolerated. Central bank chief Alexandre Tombini and Finance Minister Guido Mantega said at separate events the government will not hesitate in taking measures to combat high inflation.

• Saturday, April 13th 2013 - 05:29 UTC

  President Rousseff pledges to double Brazilian per capita income by 2022

  

  Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said on Friday that the government intends to double per capita income by 2022, when Brazil celebrates 200 years of independence from Portugal.