
Prime Minister David Cameron will hold an early referendum on membership of the European Union if he can first reach a deal that satisfies his demands for major changes in Britain's relationship with the bloc, his spokesman said yesterday.

In a move which has been interpreted as a right turn, economist Rodrigo Valdes was named as Chile's finance minister on Monday by President Michelle Bachelet, in a sweeping cabinet reshuffle in which four of her closest ministers were sacked or shifted into other roles. On Valdes' immediate to-do list is an upcoming 1.26 billion dollars international debt issue.

Former United States President Jimmy Carter ended an election-monitoring trip to Guyana early and flew home on Sunday after falling ill, the Carter Center, his nonprofit organization, said in a statement. The Carter Center provided only sketchy information on Sunday about the condition of the 90-year-old former president.

Guyana voted Monday in early elections pitting embattled President Donald Ramotar against an upstart opposition alliance seeking to unite voters across racial lines with its calls to end corruption.

Argentina has launched a stinging attack on hedge funds attempting to block payment on last month's Bonar 24 debt issuance, stating that the petition shows the 'vulture funds' desperation following the successful auction.

French President Francois Hollande has urged an end to the US trade embargo of Cuba and envisioned a larger French role in Cuba's engagement with the West during the first visit by a French head of state to Cuba. Havana is in foreign policy talks with both the European Union and the United States amid intense world interest in Cuba following detente with Washington in December.

The Chilean government has renewed its 'explicit' support for Argentina's sovereignty claims over the Falklands/Malvinas Islands, according to Daniel Filmus, the Argentine official head of the special department for affairs relative to the Malvinas Islands, who is currently in a political tour in Santiago.

The Argentina government formally announced on Monday the primary and national elections calendar, which for the first time includes direct vote for representatives to the Mercosur parliament. Simultaneous primaries will be held on 9 August while the presidential election on 25 October.

Cuban President Raul Castro has praised Pope Francis for brokering the restoration of relations between Cuba and the US, announced in December. At the end of a Sunday audience at the Vatican, Castro said he had thanked the Pope for his contribution for the historic rapprochement.

Uruguay and Brazil presidents, scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting next 21 May in Brasilia will be addressing Mercosur issues, and advancing in the proposal that will allow the group's members to sign bilateral agreements with third parties not belonging to the region, thus avoiding the 'consensus' clause clamp.