Bolivian President Evo Morales delivered a blunt reply on Monday to visiting US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates's warning about dealings with Iran, saying Bolivia will ally with whomever it wants.
Trade among Latinamerican countries is expected to increase 22% during 2010, which is higher than forecasted, according to the UN Economic Commission for Latinamerica and the Caribbean, Cepal. This follows a drop of 0.9% in 2009 when the full impact of the global crisis.
The European Union Mercosur trade agreement is still far from becoming a reality and the coming Ibero-American summit in Mar del Plata early December is not expected to signal any significant achievement in this field, according to Spanish political analysts who anticipate some advances towards the end of next year.
European Union leaders and President Barack Obama over the weekend made a point of stressing EU/US close ties after a low-key summit in Lisbon ended with a pledge to push for a deal in the Doha trade negotiation next year.
The Brazilian navy is planning to build and incorporate in the next decades a fleet of six nuclear powered and 20 conventional submersibles (15 new and five refurbished), making it the most dissuasive fleet of South America.
Hundreds of cities, towns and villages throughout Brazil commemorated Saturday Black Consciousness Day with different festivities and cultural activities. Brazil is considered the second Black Country in the world behind Nigeria, with 75.8 million African-Brazilians and is still exposed to the consequences of racial discrimination.
Argentina claimed sovereignty over the Malvinas and South Atlantic Islands and criticized UK’s unilateral actions in fisheries and hydrocarbons during the signing on Saturday of a defence cooperation and development agreement with South Africa.
Argentina and South Africa signed on Saturday on board a South African navy vessel docked in Buenos Aires a wide ranging agreement on defense development and military co-operation.
Brazil has always recognized Argentine sovereignty over the Falkland/Malvinas Islands but was reluctant to include South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands however that is over, according to a top official from the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
Uruguayan president Jose Mujica underlined the strong common links going back to the birth of Argentina and Uruguay and called for an end to the “ports’ war” (Montevideo vs Buenos Aires) a rivalry born when the two countries were provinces of the colonial Spanish empire.