Uruguay reached this month a tax information exchange agreement with India thus totalling the twelve demanded by the Organization for Economic and Development Cooperation to have the country de-listed from the group that still have to abide and implement internationally agreed tax standards.
A group of Brazilian stand-up comedians and television comedy actors held a protest against the ruling that bars any ribbing of political candidates over the airwaves in the run-up to the October 3 elections.
Royal Dutch Shell which refines about 15% of Argentina’s fuel is waging a court battle against a government ban that prevents fuel producers from increasing prices. Shell’s federal court complaint was filed last week following a government order on August 18 mandating oil companies to lower fuel prices to a pre-August 1 level.
Earlier this year, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Argentina’s president, proffered some advice to European governments facing recession and market panic. Its essence was “stuff the IMF and carry on spending.” It is what she and her predecessor and husband, Néstor Kirchner, have practiced since 2003. Argentina is one of only a handful of countries that refuse all dealings with the IMF. Almost a decade after it defaulted on $90 billion of debt when its economy collapsed, it still has few financial ties with the world and very little bank credit. Yet contrary to repeated forecasts of doom from orthodox economists, the economy is roaring.
The recent signing of a new defense agreement between the Western hemisphere’s two dominant powers, Brazil and the United States, has brought about an important change to Latin America’s relations with the U.S. On April 12, 2010, Brazil took another step to enhance its geopolitical influence by signing the U.S.-Brazil Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA).
President Lula da Silva compared candidate Dilma Rousseff to a mother and recommended, if elected, to always think about the poor. Lula da Silva and Ms Rousseff participated in a political rally Friday night in the metropolitan Sao Paulo.
International Labour Organization (ILO) Standards Director Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry is meeting in the Chilean city of Temuco this week with Araucanía Region (IX) officials to discuss the lack of progress in implementing the ILO’s Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention.
Claims for United States jobless benefits jumped to the highest level since November and Philadelphia-area manufacturing shrank for the first time in a year, indicating the US economy may be slowing faster than forecast.
Argentines expect prices to rise 25% over the next twelve months, according to the median estimate in a monthly survey by Buenos Aires-based Torcuato Di Tella University. Expectations in August remained unchanged from last month’s report, the university said in an e-mailed report.
Brazil reported the third straight month of slower job creation in July, reflecting the slowdown of the economy in the second quarter after a massive 9% year-on-year growth in the first quarter of the year. Traders say this increases the likelihood central bank policy makers may leave interest rates unchanged in their next meeting.