Politics

• Tuesday, July 16th 2013 - 20:10 UTC

  Total plans to spud first exploratory well in Uruguay’s continental shelf in 2015

  

  The French oil and gas company Total confirmed that at the beginning of 2015 it will spud its first exploratory well in deep waters of the Uruguayan continental shelf, according to Juan Gomez, one of directors from the country’s fuel company Ancap.

• Tuesday, July 16th 2013 - 17:21 UTC

  OAS/Ecuador workshop for maintenance of demining equipment used in border with Peru

  

  The Organization of American States, OAS and the Demining Centre of Ecuador (CENDESMI), with financial support from Norway have launched a training workshop for the maintenance and repair of MINELAB F-3 metal detectors and polycarbonate visors used in the deactivation of mines found in some areas of the border between Ecuador and Peru.

• Tuesday, July 16th 2013 - 17:15 UTC

  Uruguay presses for EU/Mercosur talks fearing loss of tariff benefits

  

  Uruguay needs a quick resumption of Mercosur/European Union trade and cooperation talks because at the end of the year expire a number of tariff benefits for Uruguayan exports, revealed Foreign minister Luis Almagro.

• Tuesday, July 16th 2013 - 17:10 UTC

  Argentina has dealt a ‘mortal blow’ to Mercosur that has become ‘a political forum’

  

  Speaking for a Brazilian business association in Sao Paulo, Rubén Barbosa accused the government of Argentina of dealing a ‘mortal blow’ to Mercosur, the regional grouping that was originally focused on economic integration and has since become a political forum for the region’s leaders as was again evident during the last summit in Montevideo.

• Tuesday, July 16th 2013 - 17:03 UTC

  Spain formally apologizes for the air incident involving Bolivian president Morales

  

  Angel Vásquez, Spain's ambassador in La Paz, has delivered a letter to the Bolivian foreign ministry apologising for the aerial incident that forced Evo Morales to make an unscheduled stop in Vienna.

• Tuesday, July 16th 2013 - 05:48 UTC

  Brazil expects president-elect Cartes accepts the return of Paraguay to Mercosur

  

  Brazil Foreign minister Antonio Patriota said he expects that Paraguay president-elect Horacio Cartes will accept the return to Mercosur following his taking office ceremony scheduled for next August 15.

• Tuesday, July 16th 2013 - 05:45 UTC

  Paraguay will hold Mercosur presidency in the first half of 2014, says Uruguay

  

  Paraguay will hold the rotating chair of Mercosur after Venezuela, at the end of this year, which will mark the full active comeback of the country to the regional block, announced Uruguay’s Foreign minister Luis Almagro on Monday in Montevideo.

• Tuesday, July 16th 2013 - 05:40 UTC

  Paraguay debates controversial 10% levy on grains and soybean exports

  

  The Paraguayan government said that the recently Senate approved controversial 10% levy on all exports of oilseeds and grains is “non applicable’ since it would need an amendment of the Customs Code, and recommends the implementation of alternative taxes.

• Tuesday, July 16th 2013 - 05:23 UTC

  Falklands united as a political community thus a ‘micro-nation’ says SAC

  

  The, “orthodox,” view that the Falkland Islands referendum was little more than British voters choosing to remain British, as pedalled by the Argentine government, is not enough to explain the result of the Falkland Islands referendum argues Professor Peter Willetts in his ‘A Report on the Referendum on the Political Status of the Falkland Islands’.

• Tuesday, July 16th 2013 - 04:04 UTC

  Falklands’ war and British identity, a project study financed by the Shackleton Scholarship Fund

  

  Four academic scholarships have been awarded by the Shackleton Scholarship Fund (SSF) for 2013, covering scientific and historical subjects related to the Falkland Islands, with one of them of particular interest since it refers to the Falklands war and British identity