Politics

• Thursday, February 12th 2015 - 21:04 UTC

  Argentine church says child malnutrition stats manipulated; blames corruption and indifference

  

  Argentina's Catholic church warned that the official data on child malnutrition is 'manipulated' to avoid responsibility and rejected the official government argument that the death of some children because of nutrition problems are 'isolated cases'. The statement follows the surfacing of children's deaths of aborigines communities in northern Argentina.

• Thursday, February 12th 2015 - 20:57 UTC

  Argentina and Brazil admit trade disagreements between Mercosur main partners

  

  Argentina and Brazil failed to reach an agreement to help unlock the ongoing tension between the two key Mercosur allies over bilateral trade. Argentina's Hector Timerman and his counterpart Mauro Vieira met in Buenos Aires to try and ease Brazil’s growing concerns about restrictions on the flow of goods, but any decisions were pushed forward to an undetermined date.

• Thursday, February 12th 2015 - 06:38 UTC

  Argentine administration counterattacks US media on Nisman's case

  

  Argentina's Foreign Minister Hector Timerman said that the death of AMIA special prosecutor Alberto Nisman is being “used to attack the government” in an interview with the Washington Post. Meanwhile Argentina's Ambassador to the US Cecilia Nahon wrote a letter to the Post’s editor stating that “Argentina seeks only justice in 1994 bombing case.”

• Thursday, February 12th 2015 - 06:25 UTC

  Argentine industry fearful of some clauses in agreements signed with China

  

  Argentina's top officials will meet on Thursday with representatives from the Argentine Industrial Union, UIA, to discuss some clauses and aspects of the recent agreements signed between China and Argentina last week, and which have been questioned by the manufacturers' lobby.

• Thursday, February 12th 2015 - 06:18 UTC

  Bachelet under fire because of her son's privileged access to funding for real estate speculation

  

  Chilean President Michelle Bachelet is coming under fire with complaints her family got privileged access to a bank loan for a land deal. Chile’s Que Pasa magazine reported that a company half-owned by Bachelet’s daughter-in-law, Natalia Compagnon, received a 10 million dollars loan from Banco de Chile during the 2013 presidential campaign.

• Thursday, February 12th 2015 - 06:02 UTC

  Holdouts open new front in dispute with Argentina: officials dramatic increase in their personal wealth

  

  US holders of defaulted Argentine bonds have stepped up their campaign for full repayment of their loans by detailing how 14 senior Argentine officials experienced “dramatic and often unexplained increases” in their personal wealth during service in the Kirchner administrations.

• Thursday, February 12th 2015 - 05:55 UTC

  Petrobras CEO says he has 'full autonomy' in fuel-price policy and cash flow

  

  The new chief executive officer of Brazil's Petrobras said that he has full autonomy to dictate its own fuel-pricing policy and protect cash, even as he questioned the size of losses stemming from a giant corruption scandal.

• Thursday, February 12th 2015 - 05:45 UTC

  Petrobras has trouble finding an independent chairman of the board

  

  Petrobras plans to publish its delayed audited fourth-quarter results by the end of March, something it needs to do to avoid possible early repayment of its bonds, the Globo newspaper said on Wednesday. Globo also published that the Brazilian government was considering appointing Planning minister Nelson Barbosa as chairman of the oil giant.

• Thursday, February 12th 2015 - 05:34 UTC

  UK's Customs request information on Argentina's criminal case against HSBC

  

  Britain's HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) department has requested Argentina’s AFIP tax bureau information on the criminal report filed in Buenos Aires against HSBC on allegations the bank helped more than 4,000 clients to evade taxes by stashing their money in secret Swiss bank accounts.

• Wednesday, February 11th 2015 - 06:29 UTC

  Netflix offers internet video service in Havana, but very few Cubans can afford 8 dollars

  

  Netflix began selling its Internet video service in Cuba on Monday in what appears to be a largely symbolic move driven by the recent loosening of US restrictions on doing business with the Communist-run Island.