Argentina announced Tuesday that it reached a $900 million preliminary accord to settle its pending debt with 50,000 Italian holders of defaulted Argentine government bonds. Finance minister Alfonso Prat-Gay said that the agreement with Italian bondholders includes the Argentine government's acknowledgement of the debt and reasonable interest.
Two of the 46 Chileans arrested on Monday for vandalism against a Malvinas Fallen Monument in Argentina's second largest city, Rosario, were still waiting on Tuesday for the prosecutors' charges before going before a federal judge. During the first hearing, advised by a government supplied lawyer, the Chileans abstained from making any statement while demanding to be set free.
Fish landings in Argentina totaled 752,359.1 tons in 2015, which represents 4.2% less than the previous year, according to the latest from the National Under secretariat of Fisheries. Among the main species of commercial importance, Illex squid (Illex argentinus) led the decline with a drop of 25%, with landings amounting 126,531.4 tons until 30 December 2015.
The government of Chile will be selling energy-short Argentina 5.5 million cubic feet of natural gas a day starting in May, providing also 200 MW of electricity through the interconnection system between both countries. Chile also committed to invest 200 million dollars in the Incremental Project of the Magallanes Area to boost hydrocarbon production.
The sovereignty of the Falkland Islands was “settled” a generation ago, a Labour shadow business cabinet minister Angela Eagle has said despite her leader calling for a new “dialogue” with Argentina on the matter, according to a report in Sunday's editions of The Telegraph.
Argentina's central bank said on Friday it had sealed a deal for a US$5 billion, one-year loan from international private banks, bolstering its low foreign reserves as the country heads into talks with creditors suing over unpaid debt. Argentina has been shut out of global credit markets because of its long-running legal dispute in U.S. courts with creditors over debt it defaulted on in 2002.
An indication of interest has been forthcoming from Chile's flag carrier LAN in relation to bringing in a larger aircraft to cope with the volume of passengers and freight to the Falkland Islands.
Argentina's energy minister on Friday announced new power rates on the back of subsidy cuts that could see the bills of some consumers jump five-fold, saying that a near total freeze on tariffs in parts of the country for years had left the power grid on the brink of collapse.
Pope Francis will be receiving President Mauricio Macri on February 27, the first official meeting between both leaders since Macri took office in December. The meeting was confirmed by government sources.
Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro was the only leader to take time during the recent Celac summit, to make a public statement on the Falklands/Malvinas pledging full support for Argentina's sovereignty claim over the Islands and promising not to rest until the dream of Malvinas Argentinas comes true.