
Chilean artist and storyteller Victor Arriagada died last week following a long struggle with leukaemia. He leaves behind a legacy of characters, stories and artwork which will continue to thrill readers for decades to come.

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez was discharged from hospital midday Saturday three days after surgery and following on the announcement that “medical tests have ruled out the presence of cancerous cells in her thyroid gland”.

Paraguay declared on Wednesday animal sanitary emergency in the district of San Pedro, 400 kilometres north of the capital Asuncion where this week an outbreak of foot and mouth disease was confirmed in a farm.

Brazil announced it will continue to receive different meats from the whole territory of landlocked Paraguay with the exception of the country of San Pedro were an outbreak of foot and mouth disease was confirmed this week, the second in four months

Uruguay consumer price inflation accelerated to 8.6% in 2011 from 6.93% the previous year, the government stats office, INE said on Tuesday.

Mercosur soybean production is expected to fall 2.9% after dry weather and heat damaged crops in Brazil and Paraguay and as conditions deteriorate in Argentina, Hamburg-based industry researcher Oil World said.

Uruguayan president Jose Mujica said he promotes good relations with the entire world but he is well aware of the significance of neighbouring Argentina for the Uruguayan economy and that “we must jump into the stirrup of Brazil”.

No changes are needed in current legislation to bar vessels flying the Malvinas flag from entering Uruguayan ports, but Uruguay also speculates that if the vessels change to the English flag there will be no problems, according to a report from the Foreign Affairs ministry.

Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff will be celebrating on Sunday her first of four years in office with a record public opinion support of 72%, based on a sober and firm style in running what has become the world’s sixth largest economy.

In its latest article on Argentina The Economist refers to the recent Mercosur decision to support President Cristina Fernandez in barring vessels flying the Falklands’ flag from docking in regional ports.
The magazine as the heading says (Argentina and the Falklands: rocking the boat) describes it as another diplomatic victory for Cristina and also argues that both the Falkland Islands and Britain have failed to explain their case to the rest of South America.