
Uruguay’s First Lady Lucia Topolansky described statements from former president Tabare Vazquez referred to a possible ‘war hypotheses’ with Argentina over the paper mill conflict as ‘absurd’ and recommended those words shouldn’t be considered more than a simple kids’ anecdote.

Argentine officials reacted strongly to remarks from former Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez who revealed that during the prolonged diplomatic conflict with Argentina over the construction of the Botnia-UPM pulp plant, he feared the situation could have led to an armed confrontation.

President Juan Manuel Santos praised US Congress ratification of a long-stalled free trade agreement with the United States and said it was a historic day for Colombian business and workers.

The United States Congress voted Wednesday on a bipartisan basis to pass long delayed free-trade bills with Colombia, Panama and South Korea.

United States Deputy Secretary of State William Burns called the Argentine authorities on Wednesday in order to provide them with details regarding the alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States, Department of State Victoria Nuland confirmed.

Argentina called on Latin America to promote inter-trade among the region’s countries replacing the almost 460 billion dollars of manufactured goods from the rest of the world imported in 2010.

Over 200.000 people took to the streets of the Brazilian capital to protest against corruption and impunity. The Wednesday rally was convened through the social networks and responds to citizens’ organizations with no political affiliation.

The US city of Harrisburg - capital of the state of Pennsylvania - has filed for bankruptcy, making it the first state capital to do so. Harrisburg faces debts of 300 million dollars and has struggled to pay for services.

After the US announced Iran’s alleged plans to commit terrorist attacks on Washington which could have involved consequent attacks in Buenos Aires, both the Israeli and Jewish communities in Argentina expressed their “concern” over the reports, maintaining that the news “did not surprise” them.

United States President Barack Obama celebrated the contributions of Latinos to American culture and heritage Wednesday in an event that paid tribute to the US Hispanic leaders, scholars and soldiers, including those from Texas.