
US president Barack Obama defended his Latin American policy, praised Mexico’s resilience in the drugs war, criticized Cuban reforms as insufficient and emphasized the ‘equals-relation’ between countries in the region and Washington.

The head of the International Monetary Fund today urged advanced countries to take bold, coordinated action to break a vicious cycle of weak growth and high debt that threatens the global economy and has been worsened by dysfunctional politics.

President Jose Mujica admitted to Uruguayan manufacturers and farmers that with recurrent Argentine and Brazilian obstacles to trade “it’s very hard to make Mercosur function” and good relations between presidents “are not enough”.

The Paraguayan delegation before Mercosur Parliament, Parlasur, accused Argentina of “systematically and permanently ignoring the Asuncion Treaty” (the founding charter of Mercosur).

Brazil's Tourism minister resigned late Wednesday amid a long-brewing corruption scandal, marking the fifth cabinet-level official to step down from President Dilma Rousseff's nine-month-old government since June.

Brazil's government presented a plan on Wednesday for dividing up oil royalties among states, a crucial step in advancing its effort to tap deepwater reserves it hopes will turn the country into a major crude exporter.

Plans are being drawn up for celebrations to mark next year's 30th anniversary of the Falklands conflict, reports Wednesday the Evening Standard. The UK Ministry of Defence, Foreign Office and Falkland Islands government are working on how best to commemorate the 1982 conflict with Argentina.

Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is heading for a landslide victory in the coming October elections according to public opinion polls released this week. CFK would collect 51.9% of the votes, forty percentage points ahead of the runner up, according to Management & Fit.

US President Barack Obama has been dealt a double setback after Republican wins in two seats, including one billed as a referendum on his economic policies. In New York, Republican Bob Turner won a key election to succeed Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner, who quit in June over a sex texting scandal.

Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner held on Wednesday a 45 summit meeting with her counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy on the third and last day of her official visit to France.