Politics

• Saturday, May 9th 2009 - 07:29 UTC

  Brazilian Senate leader reiterates opposition to Venezuela in Mercosur

  

  Former Brazilian president Jose Sarney and currently head of the federal Senate, reiterated his opposition to Venezuela’s incorporation to Mercosur because of differences over interpretations of democratic governance with the regime of President Hugo Chavez.

• Friday, May 8th 2009 - 11:03 UTC

  Dismal Ilex Season in Falklands; All Jiggers Leave Zone

  

  Weekly Penguin News Update. Headlines: Fun trials create new challenges; Dismal Ilex season; Firearm stolen from vehicle at Goose Green; BFBS 3 will be available to Falkland’s viewer; Swine flu pandemic is less likely.

• Friday, May 8th 2009 - 10:59 UTC

  Lula da Silva and Lugo suspend signing of bilateral agreements

  

  Visiting Paraguayan president Fernando Lugo and his counterpart host Brazil’s Lula da Silva ended Thursday evening their first private meeting with out any statements or having signed several bilateral agreements which were ready to be stamped.

• Friday, May 8th 2009 - 10:26 UTC

  Chavez agrees to pay 1.97 billion USD for nationalized steelmaker

  

  Ternium, Latin America’s second- largest steelmaker, agreed to sell its Sidor unit to the Venezuelan government for 1.97 billion US dollars, ending a yearlong price dispute. The government holding company, Corp. Venezolana de Guayana, or CVG, paid 400 million in cash today for Ternium’s 59.7% stake in Sidor, the Luxembourg-based company said Thursday in a statement. CVG said it will pay the rest in two separate payments.

• Friday, May 8th 2009 - 10:20 UTC

  European Parliament supports “politically persecuted Venezuelans”

  

  The European Parliament (EP) approved on Thursday a resolution in solidarity with “all those people suffering political persecution in Venezuela,” currently embodied in former presidential candidate Manuel Rosales, who was granted political asylum in Peru.

• Thursday, May 7th 2009 - 08:48 UTC

  Paraguay and Bolivian Indians plight in the limelight

  

  The director of the British-based organization Survival this week urged the Paraguayan government not to authorize a Brazilian livestock company to operate on lands of the Ayoreo-Totobiegosode Indians while in Bolivia a UN mission discovered Indian communities subjected to forced labour.

• Wednesday, May 6th 2009 - 10:28 UTC

  Martinelli’s victory in Panama has turned into a conservative landslide

  

  Sunday’s conservative victory in Panama is turning into a landslide: the winning party Democratic Change, CD, headed by president elect Ricardo Martinelli will also hold a majority in Congress.

• Wednesday, May 6th 2009 - 04:36 UTC

  Iran’s statements on Israel divide Uruguayan ruling coalition

  

  Uruguay’ Foreign Affairs official rejection of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad latest statements regarding Israel and the Holocaust have caused “disappointment” in certain groups of the ruling coalition since they believe the government “caved in to lobbying from the local Israelite Committee”, reports the Montevideo press.

• Wednesday, May 6th 2009 - 04:10 UTC

  US Free trade agreement, top priority of Panama’s president-elect

  

  Panama's president-elect Ricardo Martinelli has said finalising a free trade deal with the United States is a priority. Martinelli, a supermarket tycoon, beat the governing centre-left party's candidate by more than 20 points in Sunday's presidential election.

• Wednesday, May 6th 2009 - 04:04 UTC

  Canada prepared to challenge EU ban on seal products in WTO

  

  Canada pledged on Tuesday it would launch a World Trade Organization challenge of the European Union's planned ban on seal products, unless the EU agrees to exempt humane and sustainable sealing.