
Former Uruguayan Industry and Energy Minister, Jorge Lepra (*), described Néstor Kirchner’s government as ”fascist”, during a meeting with the US Embassy Chargé D'Affaires at Uruguay, James Nealon, in February 14, 2006, according to a cable revealed by Wikileaks in which Nealon reported to Washington the minister’s harsh words.

President Barack Obama will nominate Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, who this year criticized China for not opening its markets, as next US ambassador to Beijing, two administration officials said.

United States considers Mercosur as an “anti American” organization and fears the incorporation of Venezuela to the group made up of Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay according to one of the latest Wikileaks to see light in the River Plate press.

The U.S. economy added 192,000 jobs in February while the unemployment rate fell to 8.9%, the lowest in nearly two years, the Labour Department said Friday. Last month’s jobs gain was the best since May.

Latin America is enjoying growth and stable democracy with the notable exceptions of the leftist governments of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday that Al Jazeera is gaining more prominence in the US because it offers “real news”--something she said American media were falling far short of doing.

The recent hike in oil prices will likely cause a “temporary and relatively modest increase in U.S. consumer price inflation,” but sustained increases could pose a more serious threat to the economy, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said earlier this week.

Sales of new vehicles jumped markedly in the United States in February, with sales by the world's two biggest automakers up the most.

The US House of Representatives has approved a measure to fund the US government for a further two weeks, avoiding a looming shut-down. The bill from the Republican-led chamber would cut government spending by 4 billion USD in that period.

United States government deficits are the biggest long-term worry of top U.S. economists, according to a survey released Monday. The survey of 47 top economists by the National Association of Business Economics predicted that the US federal deficit will jump to 1.4 trillion US dollars in the fiscal year ending in September.