Politics

• Monday, August 6th 2012 - 07:56 UTC

  Ecuador negotiation to join Mercosur as full member begin next month

  

  Mercosur will officially begin negotiation with Mercosur for its inclusion as full member in September announced the Brazilian news agency, ABR on Sunday. The meeting is scheduled for September 15 when the incorporation preliminaries will be addressed.

• Monday, August 6th 2012 - 07:47 UTC

  Argentine industry lobby blast devaluation but demand more competitiveness

  

  Argentine Industrial Union head José Ignacio de Mendiguren says he wholeheartedly agrees with President Cristina Fernández criticism to those who back a devaluation of the Peso, in an interview with Ambito.com.

• Monday, August 6th 2012 - 07:40 UTC

  Chile’s discredited Piñera revamps tax reform bill ahead of municipal elections

  

  Chile's government re-drafted a sweeping tax reform bill aimed at helping fund an education overhaul, removing criticized benefits for higher earners as it seeks to help its passage through Congress ahead of key local elections.

• Monday, August 6th 2012 - 07:34 UTC

  Sean Penn joins Venezuela’s Chavez presidential electoral campaign wagon

  

  Actor Sean Penn joined President Hugo Chavez at an election rally in Venezuela on Sunday, bringing a dash of Hollywood to the campaign as he rode with him atop a truck past cheering supporters.

• Saturday, August 4th 2012 - 19:24 UTC

  Falkland Islands’ assessing options for the expansion of port facilities

  

  Falkland Islands port facilities are under assessment given the prospects of oil industry activities in the near future and two options are being considered by the local government: a new port project, and an interim development of the current facilities at FIPASS.

• Saturday, August 4th 2012 - 05:00 UTC

  YPF and PDVSA advance in the energy strategic alliance; next meeting in Caracas

  

  Argentina and Venezuela gave their first step in the creation of an energy strategic alliance between oil companies YPF and PDVSA, after the agreement signed by President Cristina Fernández and her Venezuelan counterpart, Hugo Chávez, in Brasilia last Tuesday.

• Saturday, August 4th 2012 - 03:14 UTC

  Venezuela accession to Mercosur “by the back door”, according to The Economist

  

  Under the heading of “In by the back door” referred to the expansion of Mercosur, The Economist says “bringing Venezuela certainly was smart, in the sense of cunning rather than wise”, but it was done ignoring the block’s rules which call for unanimity in admitting new members.

• Saturday, August 4th 2012 - 02:18 UTC

  Paraguayan senators challenge Chavez version of attempted bribes to favour Venezuela

  

  An international controversy has surfaced between President Hugo Chavez and Paraguayan senators as to who really tried to bribe whom regarding failed attempts to have Venezuela incorporated to Mercosur.

• Friday, August 3rd 2012 - 22:34 UTC

  Brazilians trust in future of their country, their jobs and President Rousseff

  

  President Dilma Rousseff continues to enjoy high popularity as Brazilian consumers sound very optimistic about the future of their country and trust they can hold on to their jobs despite the recent economic slowdown.

• Friday, August 3rd 2012 - 22:11 UTC

  Uruguay’s July inflation record low on government successful electricity saving campaign

  

  Uruguay’s annual consumer-price inflation dropped in July to 0.27% the lowest in 58 years, accumulating 7.48% in the last twelve months (down from 8% in June), and 4.41% in the first seven months of 2012.