Mercosur

• Friday, May 18th 2012 - 18:10 UTC

  Latam Nobel Prize blames Peronism for Argentina’s “self destruction” addiction

  

  Literature Nobel Prize Mario Vargas Llosa blamed Peronism for the self-destruction which is leading Argentina to underdevelopment, poverty and populism, and compared the dominating political movement trajectory to that which took Adolf Hitler to power.

• Friday, May 18th 2012 - 09:41 UTC

  Argentine former central bank chief anticipates “de facto devaluation”

  

  A former Argentine central bank president warned that if the economy follows on the current course, a “de facto devaluation” is round the corner because of the growing gap between the official and parallel exchange rates for the US dollar.

• Thursday, May 17th 2012 - 21:24 UTC

  Spain supports EU/Mercosur trade accord on a “region to region” basis respecting WTO rules

  

  Spain’s Foreign Affairs minister Jose Garcia Margallo said that Madrid supports negotiations for a free trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union on a “region to region” basis, back stepping from his proposal last April to exclude Argentina following the seizure of YPF from Repsol.

• Thursday, May 17th 2012 - 21:19 UTC

  Tax-info-exchange accord could see middle-class Argentines abandon Uruguayan banks

  

  The recent tax-info exchange agreement reached between Argentina and Uruguay will make many investors in the Uruguayan financial system take their deposits back to “safes” or “mattresses” in Argentina, warned several economists during a conference on the Argentine economy prospects and its influence on neighbouring Uruguay.

• Thursday, May 17th 2012 - 10:41 UTC

  “Highly positive” cruise 2011/12 season for Uruguay with 213 vessel calls

  

  As “highly positive” was described the 2011/12 cruise season by Uruguay’s Deputy Tourism minister Lilian Kechichian during the ceremony in the port of Montevideo to receive the last vessel of the season.

• Thursday, May 17th 2012 - 10:17 UTC

  Argentina en route to become the “Greece of Latin America” claim Chilean exporters

  

  Argentina could rapidly become the “Greece of Latin America” given the trade restrictions it has imposed born out of the lack of sufficient hard currency to face its international commitments, according to Chile’s Manufacturing and Services Exporters Association, Roberto Fantuzzi.

• Wednesday, May 16th 2012 - 01:27 UTC

  Brazilian discomfort: ends automatic import licences for Argentine perishables

  

  Brazil this week escalated a growing trade fight with Argentina by increasing the bureaucratic obstacles for importing about 10 perishable products including apples, raisins, and potatoes, a senior Brazilian government official was quoted by the media.

• Friday, May 11th 2012 - 01:24 UTC

  Brazil underlines the “great political convergence” with Argentina in spite of trade differences

  

  Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota praised the “great political convergence” between Argentina and Brazil and assured that any existing problems related to the bilateral trade “do not tarnish this very strong reality.”

• Wednesday, May 9th 2012 - 20:56 UTC

  Mercosur “going through its worst moment in history” claims Uruguay

  

  Uruguay’s Vice-president Danilo Astori said Mercosur is going through its worst moment in history because some of its members in practical terms “are denying the most basic principles”.

• Tuesday, May 8th 2012 - 02:06 UTC

  Mercosur “needs to be reborn” with an honest integration spirit, says Cardoso

  

  Brazilian former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso said that Mercosur “needs to be reborn but with a real integration spirit among its members” leaving behind such ambitions as the mirror of the European Union.