Politics

• Friday, July 26th 2013 - 06:02 UTC

  OAS chief Insulza honoured as “a dear friend of Paraguay”

  

  Jose Miguel Insulza, Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) received on Wednesday the National Order Award of Merit, ‘Don Jose Falcon’ from the government of Paraguay.

• Friday, July 26th 2013 - 05:48 UTC

  US global spy dragnet and PRISM confirmed in narrow vote at the Lower House

  

  The US House of Representatives has narrowly voted to continue collecting data on US phone calls, in the first legislative move on the program. In a 205-217 vote, lawmakers rejected an effort to restrict the National Security Agency's (NSA) ability to collect electronic information.

• Friday, July 26th 2013 - 04:14 UTC

  Defying the weather, 1.5 million turn out to greet Francis as Copacabana beach

  

  A huge crowd estimated in 1.5 million people defied rain and chilly weather to greet Pope Francis on Rio do Janeiro’s Copacabana beach on Thursday. With his captivating charisma Francis repeated a theme of his visit to Brazil urging young Catholics to shun the trappings of materialism and put Jesus Christ at the center of their lives.

• Friday, July 26th 2013 - 01:57 UTC

  Malvinas: Uruguay politicians honoured for having volunteered to fight next to Argentina in 1982

  

  Two Uruguayan politicians, one from the ruling coalition and the other from the main opposition National party will be honoured with a medal by Argentina for their unlimited support to the Malvinas cause, announced the Argentine ambassador in Montevideo, Dante Dovena.

• Thursday, July 25th 2013 - 06:09 UTC

  Pope Francis warns Latam leaders against legalizing narcotics: attack roots of the problem

  

  Pope Francis on Wednesday warned Latin America against legalizing narcotics and urged courage in the face of deadly drug violence as he met addicts in a Brazilian hospital.

• Thursday, July 25th 2013 - 06:06 UTC

  OAS chief praises Cartes and says Paraguay must not be excluded from Mercosur

  

  The Organization of American States Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza said on Wednesday that Paraguay should return to Mercosur because “it’s not good to have exclusions in South America”, but insisted that the solution to the problem is in the hands of the ‘protagonists’ and not in president elect Horacio Cartes.

• Thursday, July 25th 2013 - 02:33 UTC

  Brazil prepared to change Mercosur negotiation strategy to spur agreement with the EU

  

  Brazil wants to change the way Mercosur negotiates trade agreements with the European Union, EU, so as to definitively advance with the ongoing discussions that were started in 1995, but still have to see concrete results, according to Brazilian official trade and diplomatic sources.

• Thursday, July 25th 2013 - 02:08 UTC

  From Brazil’s largest basilica Pope Francis calls on young people to shun the idols of money and pleasure

  

  Pope Francis held his first mass as a pontiff at the Basilica of Our Lady of Aparecida in Sao Paulo before thousands of faithful who gathered despite de cold and the rain. During the Wednesday mass, Pope Francis urged young people to shun the “ephemeral idols” of money and pleasure and cherish traditional values to help build a better world.

• Wednesday, July 24th 2013 - 20:52 UTC

  Foreigners own 6% of rural land in Argentina, equivalent to 15.8 million hectares

  

  A total of 5.93% of rural land in Argentina is foreign-owned President Cristina Fernández announced which amounts to 15.8 million hectares. During a speech at Government House, Justice Secretary Julián Alvarez presented a survey that is a prelude to the full implementation of the Law 26,737 on Rural Lands (Ley de Tierras Rurales) passed in 2011 to place a 15% limit on foreign ownership of rural land in Argentina.

• Wednesday, July 24th 2013 - 20:47 UTC

  Latam and Caribbean poised to grow 3% this year; poor performance from Brazil and Mexico

  

  Latinamerica and the Caribbean are poised to grow 3% this year, according to the July Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean, which is down from the previous April estimate of 3.5%. Slower growth in the region’s two largest economies Brazil and Mexico, and more modest activity in Chile, Panama and Peru have pulled the average down.