Politics

• Monday, January 28th 2013 - 04:10 UTC

  Santa Maria tragedy: Three days of national mourning; Rousseff cuts short political summit in Chile

  

  Brazil declared on Sunday three days of national mourning and flags at half mast following the tragedy in the southern university city of Santa Maria where at least 233 people were killed or trampled to death when a disco went on fire.

• Sunday, January 27th 2013 - 02:03 UTC

  With Argentine navy’ honour lying on her side, Minister Puricelli could be next official removed

  

  The Argentine government has removed two top naval officers from their duties following the sinking, this week at her moorings pier-side of the destroyer “Santisima Trinidad” once the flagship of the service and which was actively involved in the invasion of the Falklands in 1982.

• Saturday, January 26th 2013 - 21:31 UTC

  IMF: Latam growth estimates contained because of Brazil’s poor performance

  

  The IMF downgraded growth estimates for Latinamerica in 2013 from 3.9% to 3.6%, mainly because of an anticipated poor showing of the region’s largest economy Brazil, according to the Fund’s latest report on the world economy prospects.

• Saturday, January 26th 2013 - 21:23 UTC

  Lagarde surprised at the ‘very slow’ recovery of the Brazilian economy

  

  IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said she is unsure about Brazil’s economic outlook despite the country’s official estimate of 3.5% growth this year, since recovery is “very slow” as the 1% of 2012 showed.

• Saturday, January 26th 2013 - 20:59 UTC

  Major summit in Santiago with inverted roles: EU knocks on the door of Latam

  

  Representatives from sixty countries begin Saturday in Santiago de Chile the two day summit which breaks with recent tradition: Latin American countries, full of economic confidence, are hosting their European partners and are expected to volunteer to help with Europe’s economic problems.

• Saturday, January 26th 2013 - 20:44 UTC

  Mercosur/Paraguay controversy reaches EU/CELAC summit in Chile

  

  Chile confirmed that Paraguay finally decided not to attend the EU/CELAC summit in Chile putting an end to a controversy when it emerged that several Mercosur and Unasur members insisted that the landlocked country should not be invited.

• Saturday, January 26th 2013 - 19:01 UTC

  EU27/CELAC trade experienced sharp decline in 2009 with strong recovery since

  

  The European Union27 international trade in goods with the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, (CELAC), has been characterised in recent years by steady growth between 2003 and 2008, a sharp decline in 2009 and a strong recovery since then.

• Saturday, January 26th 2013 - 04:10 UTC

  Chancellor Osborne will ‘not run away’ from UK economic woes despite triple-dip recession signals

  

  Chancellor George Osborne has vowed not to “run away” from Britain's economic woes amid fresh signs the UK is heading for an unprecedented triple dip recession. The first official estimate from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed the economy shrank by 0.3% between October and December, slamming the recovery into reverse after the 0.9% growth seen in the previous quarter.

• Friday, January 25th 2013 - 17:48 UTC

  Argentina easing imports’ restrictions mainly for Mercosur associates

  

  The government of President Cristina Fernandez has decided to revoke non-automatic licensing requirements which had been placed on certain products before they could be imported into Argentina for consumption, according to a resolution published Friday on the Official Gazette. But earlier in the week Argentina increased the import tariff on a hundred products to the maximum authorized by WTO, which is 35%.

• Friday, January 25th 2013 - 15:24 UTC

  Falklands to host Commonwealth lawmakers’ conference: ‘self determination and devolution’ in agenda

  

  The Falkland Islands will be hosting the 43rd British Islands and Mediterranean Region (BIMR) Annual Conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) from the 11th to 15th February 2013. This is the second time BIMR holds its annual conference in the Falklands, last time was in February 2004.