Politics

• Monday, February 6th 2012 - 07:22 UTC

  Close confident of Cristina Fernandez re-floats idea of a third consecutive mandate

  

  The rumours of a constitutional amendment in Argentina which could include a re-re-election review privileging a possible third consecutive mandate for President Cristina Fernandez have again resurfaced and this time by a close confident of the Kirchner family.

• Monday, February 6th 2012 - 07:16 UTC

  Uruguayan president downplays the impact of Argentine imports’ restrictions

  

  The new trade barriers enforced by the Argentine government are “insignificant, nothing to worry about,” Uruguayan president José Mujíca said to a Montevideo newspaper insisting that the best path is ‘dialogue’ dismounting each obstacle ‘step by step’.

• Monday, February 6th 2012 - 07:10 UTC

  Fidel Castro presents two-volume memoirs and cautions about limits to Socialism

  

  Former Cuban President Fidel Castro presented a two-volume memoir at a public ceremony in Havana, where he referred to the mistake of believing that with socialism all economic problems are solved, official media said Saturday.

• Monday, February 6th 2012 - 07:03 UTC

  Caribbean states join Mercosur in barring Falklands’ flagged vessels from their ports

  

  Several Caribbean states and Nicaragua announced this weakened they will bar from their ports any vessel flying the Malvinas flag, according to a release from the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

• Monday, February 6th 2012 - 06:55 UTC

  Chavez lavish celebration of aborted coup with troops hailing the “Socialist fatherland’

  

  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez mounted a lavish celebration to mark the 20th anniversary of the failed coup that helped launch his political career, as opposition leaders slammed the event as a blemish on the country's democracy.

• Monday, February 6th 2012 - 06:51 UTC

  Chavez supports Russia/China veto on UN Syrian resolution as “very positive”

  

  While Western and Arab countries responded with outrage after Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to give up power, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez considered the veto as “very positive”.

• Monday, February 6th 2012 - 06:46 UTC

  A majority of Germans feel Euro block would be better off without Greece

  

  The majority of Germans feel the Euro currency bloc would be better off if debt-crippled Greece left it, a poll published in mass-selling newspaper Bild am Sonntag showed.

• Monday, February 6th 2012 - 06:40 UTC

  Brazil sends elite force to quash police strikers entrenched in city of Salvador

  

  Troops locked down the northeast Brazilian city of Salvador on Sunday as an elite unit prepared to besiege the legislature and arrest armed police officers whose strike action has sent homicides spiralling.

• Monday, February 6th 2012 - 06:37 UTC

  Queen begins celebration of the 60th anniversary of her accession to the throne

  

  Queen Elizabeth II has said she is dedicating herself “anew to your service”, as she marks the 60th anniversary of her accession to the throne. In a message, she also said she felt “deeply moved” by the support shown for her Diamond Jubilee.

• Sunday, February 5th 2012 - 07:55 UTC

  Crime rate soars in Brazilian state of Bahia on fifth day of police strike

  

  The murder rate in Brazil’s northeastern state of Bahia has soared during a state police strike that on Saturday entered its fourth day. The state’s Public Safety Department says on its website that 51 people have been murdered in and near the capital city of Salvador since the strike began on Wednesday.