Politics

• Wednesday, July 22nd 2009 - 21:53 UTC

  Nestor Kirchner, “a complicated character” who is “out of control”

  

  Former Argentine president Nestor Kirchner is “out of control”, he has a “complicated personality”, said Chubut province governor Mario Das Neves, once an ally but now clearly distanced from the husband of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

• Wednesday, July 22nd 2009 - 13:51 UTC

  Expelled Venezuelan diplomats challenge Honduras de facto government

  

  Venezuelan diplomats rejected comminatory orders to abandon Honduras in 72 hours saying their expulsion was decided by an illegitimate government which is not recognized by the administration of President Hugo Chavez.

• Wednesday, July 22nd 2009 - 13:45 UTC

  Argentina implements changes in the Statistics agency

  

  Argentina's Economy ministry will have increased control over the national statistics and census agency, Indec, announced on Tuesday the government in a bid to restore credibility to the country's consumer price data.

• Wednesday, July 22nd 2009 - 13:38 UTC

  Pensions for Argentine members of failed attempt to capture the Falklands in 1966

  

  The Peronist government of the Argentine province of Buenos Aires will grant a special pension to the nationalist group of 18 civilians who in 1966 took command of a commercial flight to Rio Gallegos and had it re-routed to the Falkland Islands with the purpose of taking over the Malvinas for Argentina.

• Wednesday, July 22nd 2009 - 08:28 UTC

  Brazil tells Hillary of dissatisfaction with Arias mediation in Honduras crisis

  

  Brazilian Foreign Affairs Minister Celso Amorim phoned last weekend US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was in New Delhi, India, to “express concern” about the slow pace and handling of the negotiations for the reinstatement of the democratic order in Honduras, reports Folha do Sao Paulo.

• Wednesday, July 22nd 2009 - 08:25 UTC

  Nicaraguan opposition condemns President Ortega’s re-election appeal

  

  Nicaraguan opposition members in Congress condemned this week a public appeal for constitutional changes by President Daniel Ortega as an attempt to extend term limits and eventually allow the populist leader's re-election.

• Wednesday, July 22nd 2009 - 07:18 UTC

  Uruguay rejects proposal to grant Mercosur more powers

  

  Uruguay will reject a Brazilian proposal to create a Mercosur High Court of Justice and grant more powers to the regional parliament when the Mercosur summit meets next Thursday and Friday in Paraguay. Uruguay also anticipated it would make a strong claim regarding the trade barriers imposed by Mercosur senior members, Argentina and Brazil.

• Wednesday, July 22nd 2009 - 07:08 UTC

  British Parliament clean up bill has received Royal Assent

  

  A bill aimed at cleaning up Parliament after the MPs' expenses scandal has become law after getting Royal Assent. Just weeks after the Parliamentary Standards Bill was introduced, it is now on the statute book after a series of concessions by the government.

• Wednesday, July 22nd 2009 - 07:06 UTC

  Venezuela reacts angrily to US report on cocaine smuggling and corruption

  

  Venezuela said United States must stop publishing “interventionist” reports criticizing the country’s drug interdiction practices in order for relations to improve. A report released Monday by the US Government Accountability Office, GAO, amounts to “political blackmail” warned the Venezuelan Foreign Affairs ministry in an e-mailed statement

• Wednesday, July 22nd 2009 - 06:58 UTC

  Panama praises “professionalism” of Honduras Army in the crisis

  

  Panamanian Vice-president and Foreign Affairs minister Juan Carlos Varela praised the Honduran Army for its “professionalism” in dealing with the political crisis of the country in spite of repeated claims of repression from human rights organizations.