Politics

• Friday, February 22nd 2013 - 04:16 UTC

  Colombia signs free trade agreement with South Korea eliminating 96% of tariffs

  

  Colombia on Thursday signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with South Korea in Seoul. The FTA includes a wide range of elements to boost bilateral trade and investment, according to the trade ministry.

• Friday, February 22nd 2013 - 01:58 UTC

  Comic Beppe Grillo the outsider that has Italy’s political system “terrified”

  

  Comic Beppe Grillo, a political newcomer is sending shockwaves to the Italian political system ahead of national elections. Touring the country in a camper van and attracting tens of thousands to his rallies, Grillo has channeled the rage and frustration that Italians feel at the rampant waste and corruption of their political leaders.

• Friday, February 22nd 2013 - 01:53 UTC

  Berlusconi rattles election campaign claiming Monti and Bersani have “Merkel’s blessing”

  

  Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti rowed back from comments suggesting that German Chancellor Angela Merkel had expressed opposition to his political rivals on the centre-left days before an election next week.

• Friday, February 22nd 2013 - 01:22 UTC

  Brazil/Russia agree to increase trade and cooperation in agriculture and defense

  

  Brazil and Russia signed several agreements in different fields geared to increase trade and to advance in defense, energy and agriculture cooperation, including the purchase of Russian anti aircraft missile batteries on condition that Moscow agrees to transfer technology.

• Friday, February 22nd 2013 - 01:17 UTC

  Foreign companies don’t have to fear nationalization, if they invest, says Morales

  

  President Evo Morales said on Thursday that Repsol and the other multinational companies operating in Bolivia should not fear nationalization since his government only appeals to that extreme when corporations think in ‘looting’ instead of investing.

• Friday, February 22nd 2013 - 01:11 UTC

  Cuban dissident wants an end to US economic embargo and close down Guantanamo

  

  Famed Cuban dissident Yoani Sanchez defended before the Brazilian Congress the end of the US economic embargo and called for the closing down of the US Guantanamo military base.

• Thursday, February 21st 2013 - 04:43 UTC

  Unasur, invited by electoral officials will observe the April 21 election in Paraguay

  

  Paraguay’s Superior Electoral Tribunal, TSJE said on Wednesday that representatives from Unasur, Union of South American Nations, would be present as observers of the electoral process scheduled for next April. The accord was signed by TSJE president Alberto Ramirez Zamonini and the head of Unasur High Level Group, Salomon Lerner.

• Thursday, February 21st 2013 - 04:41 UTC

  Correa hopeful Paraguayan elections will be “transparent and democratic”

  

  Re-elected Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa is hopeful “transparent and democratic” elections will be held in Paraguay next April, a country with which he is waiting to normalize relations.

• Thursday, February 21st 2013 - 04:39 UTC

  Latinamerica’s achievements and challenges exposed in London before LSE

  

  The achievements of democracy in Latin America, while simultaneously warning of the challenges that remain and that must be addressed in order to avoid stagnation in the current political process the region has been following in recent years, was highlighted by OAS chief in an address to the London School of Economics, LSE.

• Thursday, February 21st 2013 - 01:47 UTC

  Nationalized airport operators demand 90 million dollars from Bolivia

  

  The Spanish infrastructure company Abertis said it was seeking 90 million dollars from Bolivia in compensation for the nationalization of its subsidiary Servicios de Aeropuertos Bolivianos (Sabsa). Abertis was also considering other possible legal claims, its chief executive Francisco Reynes said.