Politics

• Tuesday, December 11th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Fujimori sentenced to six years for abuse of authority

  

  Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori was convicted and sentenced to six years in prison on Tuesday on a charge of abuse of authority stemming from an illegal search he ordered as his government imploded in scandal seven years ago.

• Monday, December 10th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Cool institutional relations of Uruguay with Mrs. Kirchner

  

  Uruguayan president Tabare Vazquez was absent on Sunday from the signing ceremony of the Bank of the South and from the dinner hosted by the presidential Kirchner couple in Buenos Aires to visiting leaders

• Monday, December 10th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Cristina downplays conflict with Uruguay to “one difference”

  

  Incoming Argentina president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner promised that during her term “differences” with neighboring Uruguay “will not deepen” but insisted that Uruguay was to blame for the dispute over the construction of a pulp mill on the shores of a jointly managed river.

• Monday, December 10th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Kirchner couple slide into second mandate swapping jobs

  

  The first elected woman president of Argentina, Cristina Kirchner, 54, was sworn in on Monday, receiving the sash of office from her husband, the outgoing head of state. Chants of “Viva Cristina” erupted when Kirchner swapped her position as first lady for that of president.

• Monday, December 10th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Falklands' claim and multilateralism, CK's foreign policy punch

  

  ”We once again call on the occupying country which in international forums plays as advanced and respectful that here (in Argentina) we still have a colonial enclave”, was incoming President Cristina Kirchner's, CK, direct reference to the Falkland Islands in her inaugural speech before Congress on Monday.

• Sunday, December 9th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Bolivian assembly approves new draft constitution

  

  A special Bolivian constituent assembly approved this weekend a new draft constitution, despite a boycott by the main opposition party. Bolivians will now have a chance to vote on the changes in a national referendum next year.

• Sunday, December 9th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Brazil's vision of Mercosur includes all of South America

  

  Changes in Argentina are an opportunity for closer political links and economic ties with Brazil while the two leading South American countries work in the construction of a Mercosur extending from the Caribbean to Patagonia, said Brazil's Foreign Affairs minister Celso Amorim.

• Sunday, December 9th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Bank of the South is born in B. A. among leaders' cheers

  

  Six South American presidents launched Sunday in Buenos Aires the Bank of the South, the region's answer to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund as a source for development funds.

• Saturday, December 8th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Falklands' RAF gunners monument unveiled in Honington

  A former head of the RAF said he hoped air force gunners would get the credit they deserved after unveiling a monument in Honington to commemorate their contribution in the Falklands Islands, reports the East Anglia Daily Times.

• Saturday, December 8th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Buenos Aires prepares for Kirchners ceremony on Monday

  

  Hours before the first elected woman president takes office in Argentina, the preparations for the ceremony are underway. The preparations in Buenos Aires Colón Square, where the outdoors ceremony is due to take place, were finished on Thursday and foreign heads of state are currently arriving in Buenos Aires city to participate in Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's inauguration.