Politics

• Friday, January 11th 2013 - 09:05 UTC

  On inauguration day Chavez militants promise total loyalty and to defend his presidency

  

  Tens of thousands of Venezuelans packed the centre of Caracas on the day that Hugo Chavez, cancer-stricken and hospitalized in Cuba for over a month, had to take office for another six years and ended the rally with hands up in a massive oath of loyalty to the president.

• Friday, January 11th 2013 - 08:55 UTC

  Declaration of Caracas pledges support for Venezuela in the international stage

  

  Presidents, Foreign ministers and representatives from 22 Latinamerican and Caribbean countries stamped their signatures to a declaration stating their commitment in support of Venezuela and its institutions in the international stage.

• Friday, January 11th 2013 - 08:52 UTC

  President Mujica calls for unity and peace for ‘the day when Chavez is not with us’

  

  The shortest and most sober of a day of emotional speeches and promises was that from Uruguayan president Jose Mujica who asked the massive rally in support of President Hugo Chavez that if the Venezuelan leader “tomorrow is not with us”, then unity, peace and work must prevail.

• Friday, January 11th 2013 - 08:36 UTC

  Argentine tourists must pay 8 pesos for the US dollar in neighbouring countries

  

  Following on the climbing tendency since the beginning of the year, the ‘blue’ or ‘parallel’ US dollar traded in Buenos Aires at 7.25 Argentine Pesos with a 46% gap over the ‘official’ dollar that remained relatively stable at 4.95 Pesos.

• Friday, January 11th 2013 - 08:32 UTC

  An optimistic Dragui sees a “positive contagion” in the Euro zone economy

  

  European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi spoke on Thursday of a “positive contagion” in the Euro zone economy, saying that the financial situation is improving and growth is set to return in the second half of the year.

• Friday, January 11th 2013 - 08:25 UTC

  Obama nominates budget expert to replace Geithner as Treasury Secretary

  

  US President Barack Obama on Thursday nominated his chief of staff, Jack Lew, as the next Treasury secretary, praising him as a expert on the pressing national issues of spending cuts and deficit reduction.

• Friday, January 11th 2013 - 08:21 UTC

  Bank of England keeps monetary policy unchanged waiting for GDP figures

  

  The Bank of England on Thursday decided not to extend its quantitative easing (QE) stimulus program, which has injected £375bn into the UK financial system. It is also keeping its key interest rate unchanged at 0.5%, where it has been since March 2009.

• Thursday, January 10th 2013 - 18:56 UTC

  FAO food price index finished the turbulent 2012 down 7% compared to 2011

  

  The United Nations reported on Thursday that food prices fell for the third month in a row in December last year, balancing out sharp increases registered earlier in 2012, which had previously sparked fears of a food crisis.

• Thursday, January 10th 2013 - 12:57 UTC

  Venezuelan opposition leader accepts high court ruling but tells government ‘back to work’

  

  Opposition leader Enrique Capriles accepted Venezuela’s high court sentence endorsing the postponement of President Hugo Chavez inauguration on Thursday and the ruling that the cancer-stricken leader and his administration remained in office, since “as president re-elect there is no interruption of performance of duties”.

• Thursday, January 10th 2013 - 11:56 UTC

  In a highly political speech CFK appealed to the motherland and blasted hedge funds

  

  President Cristina Fernandez (CFK) as expected made the welcoming ceremony for the Argentine frigate ARA Libertad (retained in Ghana for 78 days) into a ‘sovereignty and dignity’ political rally including the support of 20.000 militants, mostly bused in by political organizations, in which she blasted hedge funds, ‘global social predators’ and warned that through extortion and force nobody is going to obtain anything from Argentina.