Politics

• Saturday, December 8th 2012 - 03:54 UTC

  Mercosur summit rejects Falklands’ self-determination referendum

  

  Presidents from Mercosur full and associate members meeting in Brasilia rejected the coming Malvinas Islands self determination referendum and anticipated that whatever the result of the ballot “it will not alter at all the essence of the Malvinas question”.

• Saturday, December 8th 2012 - 03:51 UTC

  Venezuela has until 2016 to adapt to Mercosur tariffs and rules system

  

  Venezuela will adopt the Mercosur common external tariff in four annual stages which are scheduled to conclude in the first half of 2016, according to what was agreed at the summit held Friday in Brasilia and reported by Brazilian diplomatic sources. This was Venezuela’s first summit as a full member of the South American trade and political block.

• Saturday, December 8th 2012 - 03:47 UTC

  Bolivian industry warns about the Mercosur ‘straight jacket’ and protectionism

  

  The incorporation of Bolivia to Mercosur must not become a “straight jacket” that leaves the country with no margin to negotiate trade agreements with other regions, said the private business organization, Bolivia Foreign Trade Institution, IBCE

• Friday, December 7th 2012 - 17:43 UTC

  Overseas Territories reaffirm self determination and call for de-listing from Decolonization Committee

  

  The British Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council this week agreed a joint statement underscoring a shared commitment to self-determination. The Falklands were represented at the council by lawmakers Jan Cheek and Sharon Halford.

• Friday, December 7th 2012 - 17:38 UTC

  UK says “no options should be ruled out” in defending Gibraltar territorial waters

  

  The British Government said on Thursday that “no options should be ruled out” in defending the British sovereignty of Gibraltar’s territorial waters, reports the Gibraltar Chronicle.

• Friday, December 7th 2012 - 17:04 UTC

  Chavez back in Venezuela after ten days in Cuba: “where’s the party”

  

  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returned from Cuba on Friday following cancer-related medical treatment, walking and joking at the airport in a first public appearance in three weeks that quashed rumours he might have been at death's door.

• Friday, December 7th 2012 - 15:21 UTC

  Argentine government appeals to Supreme Court the conflict with Clarin Media group

  

  As part of another chapter of the bitter conflict over a controversial Media Law the government of President Cristina Fernandez called on Friday for the annulment of a ruling from the Civil and Commercial Court of Appeals, which on Thursday extended an injunction placed by the Clarín Group on Article 161 of the Media Law.

• Friday, December 7th 2012 - 14:23 UTC

  Falklands & Southern Oceans Department re-established at the Foreign Office

  

  The reestablishment of a Falklands Department at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has been announced by Peter Hayes, Director of the Overseas Territories, on Wednesday.

• Friday, December 7th 2012 - 05:50 UTC

  Argentine Executive and Judiciary clash over Media Bill and intimidation of Judges

  

  President Cristina Fernandez and the Argentine Judiciary branch are on a collision course after a federal court, despite all kinds of pressure and threats, decided on Thursday to extend an injunction referred to a controversial media bill which seems targeted to dismember the powerful Clarin Media Group, which has become to the eyes of the regime enemy number one.

• Friday, December 7th 2012 - 05:46 UTC

  Brazil confirms Venezuela’s Chavez will be absent from the Mercosur summit

  

  Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez will not be attending the Mercosur summit on Friday as had been previously announced, announced on Thursday the Brazilian Foreign ministry which is hosting the event.