Politics

• Thursday, April 29th 2010 - 07:50 UTC

  Chávez Calls for Venezuela’s Mercosur Incorporation Before Lula da Silva Leaves Office

  

  President Hugo Chávez expects Venezuela will be fully incorporated to Mercosur before Brazilian president Lula da Silva steps down from office next January first. The two leaders met Wednesday in Brasilia and also agreed to strengthen Union of South American Nations (UNASUR).

• Thursday, April 29th 2010 - 07:10 UTC

  Cuba Promotes Building of “Own Effort Homes” to Help With Lack of Housing

  

  Cuba began granting licenses to people to build homes “with their own effort”, an initiative approved last year by President Raúl Castro. The granting of the permits was finally approved by the National Housing Institute for people who are the owners of land, homes or other areas included in the new resolution.

• Thursday, April 29th 2010 - 06:59 UTC

  Obama Nominees for the Fed Support “Job Creation and Low Rates”

  

  US President Barack Obama is expected to announce this week his choice of Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Janet Yellen as vice-chairman of the Fed Board of Governors, according to congressional sources.

• Thursday, April 29th 2010 - 06:50 UTC

  Argentina Opens Defaulted Sovereign Bonds’ Swap Next Monday

  

  Argentina filed with United States regulators the terms of its offer to swap up to 20 billion US dollars in defaulted debt, bringing the exchange a step closer to launching.

• Thursday, April 29th 2010 - 06:34 UTC

  Europe’s Financial Seism Reaches Spain: S&P Downgrades Credit Rating

  

  International credit rating agency Standard and Poor's downgraded on Wednesday Spain's credit rating from “AA+” to “AA” with a negative outlook. The move comes a day after S&P gave Greek bonds a junk rating and lowered Portugal's credit rating from “A+” to “A-”.

• Thursday, April 29th 2010 - 05:41 UTC

  Cristina Kirchner and Mujica Agree to Re-Channel Bilateral Relations

  

  Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and her Uruguayan counterpart José “Pepe” Mujica said on Wednesday they will be working to “re-channel” bilateral relations and will strictly abide the ruling of the Botnia paper mill case.

• Wednesday, April 28th 2010 - 18:04 UTC

  Colombian Surprise: Green Party Candidate Leads Presidential Race

  

  Colombia’s Green party presidential candidate Antanas Mockus arrives for Wednesday’s night television debate as favourite following on his spectacular rise in public opinion polls.

• Wednesday, April 28th 2010 - 06:46 UTC

  Mujica and Cristina Meet to Trade Apologies, Pickets and an Inconvenient Situation

  

  Uruguay and Argentine presidents will be meeting Wednesday in Buenos Aires to analyze the aftermath of the International Court of Justice judgement on the pulp mills controversy and hopefully find a way, to peacefully lift Argentine protestors’ pickets that have been blocking since 2006 a bridge linking the neighbouring countries.

• Wednesday, April 28th 2010 - 06:39 UTC

  Lula da Silva to Remain in Politics, Promises Caricom Trade and Political Links

  

  Brazilian president Lula da Silva discarded any sort of retirement once he steps down from the Executive next December 31 and underlined he will continue to act in politics.

• Wednesday, April 28th 2010 - 06:22 UTC

  Bolivian President Apologizes to Spanish Gay and Lesbian Organizations

  

  Bolivian president Evo Morales sent a letter to gay and lesbian organizations in Spain expressing respect for sexual diversity, according to the Executive’s press office and spokesperson Iván Canelas.