Politics

• Monday, May 20th 2013 - 22:22 UTC

  Brazil opens ports to private investment hoping to ease bottlenecks strangling exports growth

  

  Brazil’s Congress approved legislation that opens up state-owned ports to private investment and lifts restrictions on the building of private ports in a bid to eliminate serious bottlenecks strangling the country’s export growth. The Brazilian Association of Infrastructure and Basic Industries praised the approval of the bill and anticipate investment of 25bn dollars.

• Monday, May 20th 2013 - 19:56 UTC

  Almirante Irizar en route to becoming another major scandal for Argentina’s navy

  

  Argentina’ icebreaker Almirante Irizar, docked for repairs since 2007 is en route to becoming another major scandal involving the Ministry of Defence and the Argentine Navy’s fleet. In the last six years Argentina has invested the equivalent of 200 million dollars in the recovery of the vessel that caught fire in 2007 and another 75 million dollars in contracting vessels to supply the Antarctic bases and stations.

• Monday, May 20th 2013 - 19:47 UTC

  Brazil trapped by Argentina and Venezuela economic mismanagements

  

  Brazil’s main financial newspaper Valor Economico revealed that the recent summit between Presidents Cristina Fernandez and Dilma Rousseff from Argentina and Brazil was far from polite and enlightening, rather the contrary with “strong disagreements in the fields of trade and investment” shaking the foundations of Mercosur.

• Monday, May 20th 2013 - 19:41 UTC

  Iran enforces memorandum with Argentina to look into AMIA terrorist bombing

  

  The business representative of the Iranian embassy in Buenos Aires Alí Pakdaman announced on Monday that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad endorsed without Congress approval the Memorandum of Understanding signed by Argentina and Tehran in order to investigate the AMIA Jewish centre bombing which killed 85 people in 1994.

• Monday, May 20th 2013 - 07:12 UTC

  Falkland Islands: Argentina blasts UK’s ‘double standard’ on self determination right

  

  Argentina questioned the UK after its negative vote at the United Nations General Assembly “to place French Polynesia back on the UN list of non autonomous territories that should be decolonised” Additionally Argentina renewed its claim over the Falkland Islands sovereignty and described the UK attitude, ‘colonial hypocrisy’.

• Monday, May 20th 2013 - 07:09 UTC

  Pope Francis and Merkel talk economics: ‘rules of the social market have not been observed”

  

  German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Pope Francis and, apparently responding to his criticism of a heartless “dictatorship of the economy” and the “cult of money”, called for stronger regulation of financial markets.

• Monday, May 20th 2013 - 07:02 UTC

  Venezuela releases ex-general jailed on charges of inciting unrest

  

  Venezuelan authorities have released a dissent ex-general who was jailed on charges of inciting unrest after the country’s disputed presidential election. Retired General Antonio Rivero, who is also a member of the opposition movement Popular Will, said he would “take care of my health” as he was freed late Friday.

• Monday, May 20th 2013 - 05:00 UTC

  Lan privileged passengers but will review investments and expects ‘common sense’ from Argentine officials

  

  Lan Chile admitted the company had to yield to the demands from the Argentine company Intercargo, which monopolizes ground services in all the country’s air terminals, so that they could resume normal traffic in Argentina. It also said that it was not leaving Argentine but would review future investments and expects more common sense from local authorities.

• Monday, May 20th 2013 - 02:37 UTC

  Polynesia in decolonization list; Pacific islands proposal supported by 193 votes in UN General Assembly

  

  The UN General Assembly on Friday put French Polynesia on the global body's decolonization list at a meeting boycotted by France. The resolution, passed by consensus in the 193 member assembly, was called for by the Solomon Islands and other Pacific states that back the Pacific territory's pro-independence parties.

• Saturday, May 18th 2013 - 06:57 UTC

  Maduro admits to knowing “the IDs and all” of the 900.000 Chavistas who did not vote for him

  

  Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro admitted to knowing ‘with IDs and all’ who are the 900.000 Chavistas who crossed lines and did not vote for him in the 14 April election which anointed him as the successor of deceased Hugo Chavez.