Mercosur

• Monday, December 12th 2011 - 19:54 UTC

  Mercosur planning to change rules to ensure full incorporation of Venezuela

  

  Uruguayan president Jose Mujica announced Mercosur is considering the modification of legislation so that Venezuela can definitively be incorporated as a full member to the South American trade block, which has been blocked for several years now by the Paraguayan Congress.

• Saturday, December 10th 2011 - 20:50 UTC

  CFK ratifies model but calls for competitiveness from labour and corporations

  

  Argentine President Cristina Fernández began on Saturday before Congress her second term with a seventy minutes speech strongly focused on domestic issues with clear messages to labour, corporations, the financial sector, the Judiciary but also a “fine tuning” pledge to continue with the current national, popular, inclusive economic development model.

• Saturday, December 10th 2011 - 05:55 UTC

  Argentina and Brazil agree to jointly promote trade and manufacturing

  

  Argentina and Brazil agreed on Friday to “increase” in the “short term” regional trade in a shared strategy to address the consequences of the global crisis. The commitment was endorsed by Argentina’ Industry minister Debora Giorgi and her Brazilian counterpart Fernando Pimentel.

• Saturday, December 10th 2011 - 05:52 UTC

  IMF praise for Uruguay but warns about the need of labour flexibility

  

  The IMF recommended Uruguay greater flexibility in the management of macroeconomic policy, ahead of unexpected changes in the international scenario.

• Saturday, December 10th 2011 - 00:46 UTC

  Five leaders miss CFK inauguration ceremony to be aired live in Youtube

  

  The presidents of Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Mexico, Hugo Chávez, Juan Manuel Santos, Ollanta Humala, Rafael Correa and Felipe Calderón have cancelled their trips to Buenos Aires and won’t attend President Cristina Fernández inauguration ceremony on Saturday.

• Saturday, December 10th 2011 - 00:44 UTC

  CFK breaks tradition with new cabinet; metro and trains free ride on Saturday

  

  Breaking away from tradition Argentine President Cristina Fernández will swear in her second term Cabinet at the Bicentennial Museum in Buenos Aires, a ceremony that by custom has been held in the White Room at Government House, Casa Rosada.

• Thursday, December 8th 2011 - 06:35 UTC

  Mujica absent from CFK inauguration following on doctors advice

  

  Uruguayan President José Mujica, 76, announced he would not be attending President Cristina Fernández inauguration ceremony on Saturday after his doctor recommended he should rest for the next few days. His wife, First Lady and Senator Lucía Topolansky will be attending instead.

• Tuesday, December 6th 2011 - 04:31 UTC

  “Mercosur at its worst moment” and Argentina has clearly “a protectionist focus”

  

  Uruguay’s Vice-president Danilo Astori blasted Argentina’s protectionist and foreign exchange policies because they damage Mercosur, which is currently living its “worst possible moment”.

• Monday, December 5th 2011 - 21:30 UTC

  Uruguay’s prospects entangled in Mercosur senior members’ policies, says EIU

  

  Uruguay will have to learn to live with Argentina’s ‘unpredictable policies” and its growing tendency to protectionism, both from President Cristina Fernandez as from Brazil in a context where both economies growth is slowing down.

• Friday, December 2nd 2011 - 18:58 UTC

  Chile and Uruguay less corrupt in Latam; other Mercosur members not so clean

  

  Chile and Uruguay are the least corrupt countries in Latinamerica, while Paraguay and Venezuela are at the other extreme, according to the latest ‘Corruption Perceptions’ Index’ from Transparency International released this week.