
Venezuela and Argentina signed three institutional agreements and 24 among corporations during the two-day First Meeting for the Venezuela-Argentina Petro-industrial development with the purpose of intensifying trade, investment and cooperation between the two countries.

Paraguay is considering demanding “moral and economic” compensation from Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay for having been suspended from Mercosur as full member and at the same reiterated its rejection to Venezuela’s admission, according to the country Foreign Ministry.

Uruguay’s attempt to auction the bankrupt national airline Pluna aircraft collapsed because none of the groups that showed an initial interest turned up arguing that the 136 million dollars for the seven Bombardier CRJ900 NextGen was “not attractive” and considered the whole business deal “non viable”.

Appealing to social networks thousands of Argentines Thursday evening took to the streets of the country’s major cities to protest some of the latest measures from the government of President Cristina Fernandez including the re-re-election plans and the increasing restrictions to the purchase of dollars.

Brazil rolled out additional stimulus measures to bolster its sluggish economy on Thursday, extending tax breaks to more than two dozen industries and reducing the cost of acquiring capital goods in a bid to help struggling local businesses.

Argentina’s inflation advanced 0.9% in August and 6.8% in the first eight months of the year according to the controversial official stats office Indec. Whole sale prices were up 1% over July and the construction cost increased 1.3%.

The Argentine central bank has informally “suggested” the banking system to limit the advances (in dollars) of credit card holders overseas, reports the Buenos Aires financial press. This is seen as another tightening of the dollar clamp imposed by the administration of President Cristina Fernandez to retain much needed foreign currency.

Six ambassadors presented their credentials to Uruguayan president Jose Mujica during a ceremony held at the Executive Tower on Tuesday. The first to meet President Mujica was UK ambassador Ben Lyster-Binns.

South America's cruise industry has been growing fast and holds vast potential, but the region must work together to tackle issues, create demand and rein in costs, said speakers at the Seatrade South America Cruise Convention in Buenos Aires.

A Chilean court has confirmed that President Salvador Allende killed himself in 1973 as troops attacked the presidential palace to oust him. Official reports, accepted by his family, concluded that his death was suicide but his body was exhumed in 2011 to settle lingering doubts.