Uruguay has received a small transport aircraft, Brasilia, from Embraer, the big neighbor’s aircraft manufacturer, and also has an order for six A29 Super Tucanos fighters. Brasilia is a small communal transport of up to thirty passengers, but that can also be used for ambulance and rescue operations.
Authorities in Bogotá and Mexico City admitted this week that their governments will be represented in Caracas on Jan. 10 when President Nicolás Maduro takes his oath of office for a new six-year term (2025-2031)for which he was chosen in the controversial July 28 elections which the opposition also claims to have won.
Uruguay's Central Bank (BCU) Monetary Policy Committee decided Monday to raise the TPM benchmark interest rate from 8.5% to 8.75% in a move to make inflation and expectations meet at 4.5% annually over the last 24 months. It was the first twitch to the TPM since April when it was cut from from 9%.
Chilean authorities admitted Monday that a military helicopter had flown into Argentine airspace last Friday in the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz. Foreign Minister Alberto van Klaveren described the incident as a mistake and insisted that the case had been handled through the proper diplomatic channels. Argentina sent a consultation note on this matter, to which a response has been given, he explained.
Former Uruguayan VicePresident and First Lady Lucía Topolansky Monday sent a letter to a group of relatives of people who disappeared during the military dictatorship saying she would not backtrack on saying that some witnesses had lied during the trials of those who committed these atrocities.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva issued a pardon favoring terminally ill prison inmates as well as at-risk pregnant women or those with HIV but fell short of benefitting those who committed crimes that were either heinous - such as torture, terrorism, racism, money laundering, concealment of assets - or against democracy, it was announced Monday in a special edition of the Diário Oficial da Uniao (Official Gazette).
Senator-elect Andrés Ojeda became the Uruguayan Colorado Party's new secretary-general in lieu of former two-time President Julio María Sanguinetti (1985-1990; 1995-2000), now aged 87. The 40-year-old Ojeda had jumped into the limelight when he ran for the presidency on Oct. 27 this year on behalf of the Colorado Party this year, clinching third place.
US President-elect Donald Trump announced Sunday he had chosen former Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Mauricio Claver-Carone as his future State Department's Envoy to Latin America. The Cuban-born Claver-Carone was appointed to the IDB at Trump's request in 2020 but was dismissed amid an affair with a subordinate whom he had given a pay raise.
Venezuela's Bolivarian regime has built a bridge reaffirming its sovereignty claims over Guyana Essequiba. The provisional structure will allow the arrival of heavier machinery for the definitive bridge, it was explained. Last Thursday, a fixed bridge over the Cuyuní River on the island of Anacoco was inaugurated as part of the Venezuelan government's efforts to reaffirm its sovereignty over that disputed region. Attending the ceremony were Defense Minister Vladímir Padrino López and Transport Minister Ramón Velásquez Araguayán, among other high-ranking officials and military commanders.
A UK Government-backed deal will see Spanish shipbuilding subsidiary Navantia UK buy out Harland and Wolff, securing the future of all four yards in the UK, including two in Scotland. The buy-out saves the jobs of 350 skilled workers at the company’s sites in Methil, Fife, and Arnish in the Western Isles.