Mercosur

• Thursday, July 14th 2016 - 07:38 UTC

  Temer wins strong ally with Lower House new speaker; crucial to approve unpopular economic reforms

  

  Brazil's lower house of Congress elected an ally of interim President Michel Temer as its new speaker late on Wednesday, marking a victory for a government racing to approve unpopular economic reforms. Rodrigo Maia of the right-leaning Democrats party, known as DEM, won the second round ballot by a wide margin in a hotly contested election.

• Thursday, July 14th 2016 - 07:35 UTC

  Lula says a six-vote swing is needed to beat Rousseff's impeachment in August

  

  Brazil's suspended president Dilma Rousseff could still wriggle out of a looming impeachment vote, her ally and predecessor Lula da Silva said. Speaking with Radio Jornal, Brazil's most prominent leftist leader said Rousseff's case is not hopeless, despite months of mounting pressure on her to be removed from office.

• Wednesday, July 13th 2016 - 07:04 UTC

  Argentines hold at least 232.5bn dollars overseas, according to stats office Indec

  

  Argentines held 232.5 billion dollars overseas in 2015, almost 10bn dollars over the previous year, according to the latest report from the country's official Indec stats office. The report, “International Investment position” is a financial balance account of Argentina with the rest of the world and records the market value of Argentine residents external assets and liabilities.

• Wednesday, July 13th 2016 - 05:11 UTC

  Mercosur asks Venezuela for 'democratic and human rights gestures' before transferring the group's chair

  

  Mercosur members are requesting from Venezuela concrete gestures in favor of democracy and human rights if they are to consider the transfer of the group's pro tempore chair from Uruguay to Caracas, pointed out Paraguayan foreign minister Eladio Loizaga a day after the group was unable to reach a consensus on the issue that has become particularly controversial when not frustrating.

• Wednesday, July 13th 2016 - 01:31 UTC

  Argentina and Brazil situations take a toll on Uruguay's 2015/16 cruise season

  

  The number of vessel calls dropped 6.4% and passengers landed 4.1%, during the last 2015/2016 cruise season compared to 2041/2015, according to the final report from Uruguay's Tourism ministry. The number of passenger and crew landed in Montevideo and Punta del Este reached 319.000 having spent an estimate 11.1 million dollars.

• Tuesday, July 12th 2016 - 08:03 UTC

  Neighbors Stand Up to Venezuela

  

  By New York Times Editorial Board
  
  This summer, Venezuela was poised to assume the rotating presidency of Mercosur, a trade bloc that includes Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. But at the urging of Paraguay, Mercosur heads of state are considering blocking Venezuela, at least temporarily, citing the erosion of democracy there.

• Tuesday, July 12th 2016 - 06:36 UTC

  Mercosur ever so divided plans a new meeting to decide on Venezuela´s presidency of the group

  

  Mercosur four founding members meeting in Montevideo have been unable to reach a consensus on whether to transfer, for the next six months, the group's pro tempore presidency to Venezuela and decided on a new round of talks next Thursday. Uruguay insists in complying with the charter and calendar, but Paraguay and Brazil question the current government of Venezuela's credentials for the job, and Argentina has an ambiguous position.

• Monday, July 11th 2016 - 10:20 UTC

  Spontaneous ovation and acknowledgement for Malvinas veterans during Bicentenary celebrations

  

  Malvinas veterans received a huge ovation and applause when they marched in Buenos Aires closing the main parade that concluded two days of festivities and speeches across Argentina to celebrate the bicentennial of the country's declaration of independence on 9 July 1816.

• Monday, July 11th 2016 - 07:44 UTC

  Buenos Aires port planning ambitious new terminal to recover cruise industry business

  

  The port of Buenos Aires is planning a new terminal for the cruise industry with the purpose or recovering lost business estimated at 50% compared to the peak reached in the 2012/2013 season. Likewise for this coming season there will be a drastic reduction in landing and provision costs for cruise companies operating from Buenos Aires.

• Monday, July 11th 2016 - 06:16 UTC

  Pope Francis appeals to “a greater Fatherland” in message to Argentina's independence bicentennial

  

  In anticipation of Argentina's Independence Day bicentenary on Saturday,( 9 July 1816), Pope Francis sent a special message calling for the homeland to fulfill the prophesy of Joel (1st chapter. 4th verse) — only if our grandparents dare to dream and our youths to prophesy great things can our homeland be free.