Politics

• Wednesday, May 1st 2024 - 23:50 UTC

  Mondino assured of China's support for Argentina's stance regarding Malvinas/Falkland issue

  

  Although Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino had the near-impossible task of putting her country on good terms with China despite President Javier Milei's disparaging campaign comments, some common ground was reached this week as the South American diplomat reaffirmed the one-China principle and Beijing backed Argentina's claim to the Falkland/Malvinas Islands.

• Wednesday, May 1st 2024 - 21:28 UTC

  Argentine unions ratify May 9 general strike against Milei's policies

  

  Argentina's main unions insisted Wednesday during the Labor Day demonstrations that the plans for the May 9 general strike against President Javier Milei's economic reforms that are affecting people's purchase power were “not in doubt.” Healthcare workers union leader Héctor Daer, who co-chairs the General Labor Confederation (CGT), also explained that “We are going to go ahead with the struggle plan that we have been developing. When the measure was announced, Argentina ”was bad and now it is worse.”

• Wednesday, May 1st 2024 - 19:23 UTC

  Brazil: Unemployment reaches 7.9% in Q1

  

  The Continuous National Household Sample Survey (PNAD) released by Brazil's Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) this week showed that 8.6 million people (or 7.9% of the population) were unemployed in South America's largest country in the first quarter of 2024, which represented a 0.5 percentage-point increase from the previous measurement ending in December.

• Wednesday, May 1st 2024 - 14:38 UTC

  Colombian Armed Forces report missing ammo

  

  Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Tuesday that thousands of grenades, bullets, and 37 anti-tank missiles had gone missing from the Tolemaida and La Guajira Army bases. The head of state also explained during a press conference in Bogotá alongside Defense Minister Ivan Velásquez and Colombia's Armed Forces Commander General Helder Giraldo that “there have been networks for a long time – made up of people from the military and civilian forces – dedicated to a massive arms trade, using the legal weapons of the Colombian State.”

• Wednesday, May 1st 2024 - 14:27 UTC

  Brazil: Heavy storms kill at least 5 in Rio Grande do Sul

  

  At least five people were killed and 18 others went missing on Tuesday as heavy rains hit some 77 municipalities in the Brazilian State of Rio Grande do Sul bordering Uruguay and Argentina. A total of 3,742 people were reported to have been affected, while 95 lost their homes and 6 were injured. Almost 300 people needed to be evacuated and taken to shelters.

• Tuesday, April 30th 2024 - 23:02 UTC

  Argentina's Lower House okays extra powers to President Milei

  

  Argentina's Lower House Tuesday agreed to grant President Milei on a temporary basis certain decision-making powers originally reserved by the Constitution to the Legislative Branch, it was reported in Buenos Aires. The neverending Parliamentary session also decided in favor of the partial and full privatization of several state-owned companies, among other topics included in the so-called “Omnibus Law” bill -formally the Bases Law draft that Milei regards as the starting point of his “chainsaw” economic policies.

• Tuesday, April 30th 2024 - 20:32 UTC

  Transport strike to paralyze Argentina in repudiation of taxation reforms

  

  As President Javier Milei's chainsaw economic policies begin to take shape following the approval at the Lower House of a series of reforms, many of the sectors to be affected by these changes announced Tuesday in Buenos Aires a nationwide air, land, and maritime transport strike for May 6.

• Tuesday, April 30th 2024 - 19:22 UTC

  Argentina: Milei's chainsaw policies underway after Lower House's nod

  

  The shaping up of Argentine President Javier Milei's “chainsaw” economic politics kicked off this week with the broad approval by Congress' Lower House of the so-called “Omnibus Law” bill, also known for its formal name as the Bases Law: “It is a fundamental step to get Argentina out of the swamp,” Milei stressed on social media. The Basic Law bill has ten titles totaling 25 chapters.

• Tuesday, April 30th 2024 - 11:16 UTC

  In 23 years bilateral trade between Latin America and China soared 35 times

  

  Trade between China and Latin American countries surpassed US$ 480 billion in 2023, compared to a mere US$ 14 billion back in 2000, based on data from the Customs Administration of the People’s Republic of China (AGA) and the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLAC.

• Tuesday, April 30th 2024 - 10:55 UTC

  President Lacalle Pou and other leaders send Pepe Mujica their support

  

  Uruguay's President Luis Lacalle Pou Monday got in touch with his predecessor José 'Pepe' Mujica to offer all the help he might need after announcing earlier in the day that he had esophagus cancer. Lacalle telephoned Mujica at around 5 pm, it was reported in Montevideo.