Two days after the International Monetary Fund, IMF, approved a massive support package, Uruguay announced the free flotation of its currency.
Uruguay, locked between its two powerful Mercosur partners, Argentina and Brazil, has been suffering the direct consequences of the regional financial instability, particularly when Argentines fearing a contagion flocked to withdraw deposits from Uruguayan banks.
The Special Committee on Decolonization of the United Nations adopted a draft resolution, presented by Chile, calling on Britain and Argentina to resume negotiations to find a peaceful resolution to the sovereignty dispute over the Falkland Islands/Malvinas. The resolution presented Wednesday morning in New York was sponsored by Chile, Bolivia, Cuba and Venezuela, and specifically supported by Mercosur.
A delegation of Peruvian cabinet ministers and local elected officials from the city of Arequipa reached an agreement suspending the controversial privatization of public utilities that triggered a week of violent protests in the south of Peru.
Finance Ministers of the seven most industrialized countries, meeting in Halifax Canada, expressed confidence in the world's economic prospects, that they describer as encouraging.
The economies of the G 7, United States, Canada, Germany, Britain, Italy, France and Japan have not ceased to strengthen and should continue to do so for the rest of the year, said the official release after the meeting was over.
United States and United Kingdom seem to have inflationary pressures under control diminishing prospects of an interest rate rise in the coming months.
The World Bank is concerned about diminishing direct investments in Latinamerica that could have a negative impact in a continent already suffering from financial and political difficulties, according to the organization's head economist for the area, Guillermo Perry.
The IMF mission currently in Buenos Aires discussing the resumption of credit to Argentina increased demands regarding financial and banking reforms, while the Duhalde administration, limited in its political support, must also address growing differences between the Economy Ministry and the Central Bank.
Markets reacted positively to the measures announced on Thursday by the Brazilian government to help restore confidence among investors, although doubts about the long term capacity of the country to repay its foreign debt remain.
Headlines: Chile moves ahead; ICU for the agonizing patient; Tough negotiation ahead; G7 to press Argentina and the IMF.
Fernando Belaunde Terry, twice President of Peru, has died , aged 88. Here is an appraisal of the man and his contribution to Peruvian politics by Mercopress Correspondent Harold Briley, who knew him personally.