Politics

• Wednesday, December 5th 2012 - 17:09 UTC

  Mercosur, except for Uruguay quite a “corrupt” neighbourhood, according to TI

  

  Mercosur and Unasur democracies did not rank very encouragingly in the latest Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2012 with all countries, except Chile and Uruguay, ranking below the score of 50, on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very clean).

• Wednesday, December 5th 2012 - 17:04 UTC

  Corruption still ravages around the world, says Transparency International

  

  A growing outcry over corrupt governments forced several leaders from office last year, but as the dust has cleared it has become apparent that the levels of bribery, abuse of power and secret dealings are still very high in many countries.

• Wednesday, December 5th 2012 - 05:26 UTC

  EU and Mercosur to resume free trade talks at two events next January

  

  The European Union and Mercosur will resume talks on a free trade agreement during a coming summit in Brazil and later at a meeting in Santiago de Chile, both in January, according to the EU chief delegate in Brazil, Ana Paula Zacarias.

• Wednesday, December 5th 2012 - 05:22 UTC

  Dealing with Argentina “one of the most painful problems” admits President Mujica

  

  Uruguayan president Jose Mujica confessed that dealing with neighbouring Argentina is “one of the most painful problems” faced by his administration given the weight of the Argentine economy.

• Wednesday, December 5th 2012 - 05:18 UTC

  Cristina Fernandez calls for regional litigation mechanisms and blasts international bodies as ‘predators’

  

  Argentine President Cristina Fernandez criticized international organizations which she described as ‘predators’ and called for the region to create its own mechanisms to settle litigations among South American countries.

• Wednesday, December 5th 2012 - 05:15 UTC

  Correa defends close links with Iran and downplays the AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires

  

  Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa triggered a serious controversy in Argentina when he defended close links with Iran and downplayed Teheran’s alleged role in the 1994 attack on the AMIA Jewish institution in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people and left hundreds injured.

• Wednesday, December 5th 2012 - 05:08 UTC

  Human rights commission demands urgent investigation into killing of Paraguayan peasant leader

  

  The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) condemns the murder in Paraguay of human rights defender Vidal Vega, leader of the Campesinos sin Tierra movement (Landless Campesinos) and president of the Committee of Relatives of Victims of the Curuguaty Massacre and urges the State of Paraguay to investigate and clear up these crimes, and punish those who perpetrated and masterminded them.

• Wednesday, December 5th 2012 - 00:07 UTC

  US court rules in favour of Argentina: denies security deposit requested by hedge funds

  

  US appeals court refused to order Argentina to post a security deposit of at least 250 million dollars while it seeks to overturn a lower court ruling that orders it to pay holdout investors 1.33 billion.

• Tuesday, December 4th 2012 - 20:36 UTC

  Gibraltar’s Picardo meets UK minister to discuss controversial Spanish legislation

  

  Gibraltar Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo held a meeting on Monday with UK Minister for Europe David Lidington in which they discussed their concerns over Spain’s purporting to pass legislation banning land reclamation and the offshore storage of fuel in Gibraltar waters.

• Tuesday, December 4th 2012 - 19:31 UTC

  Falklands’ lawmakers at BOT meeting with UK ministers in London

  

  The Joint Ministerial Council met for the first time on Tuesday bringing together political leaders from the Overseas Territories and UK Ministers to work together on several issues including strengthening economies and the environment.The Falklands government is represented by members of the Legislative Assembly Jan Cheek and Sharon Halford.