Uruguay

• Thursday, January 23rd 2014 - 09:37 UTC

  Argentina strangles Montevideo port activity; operators call for a bilateral agreement

  

  Container operators in the port of Montevideo are demanding from Uruguayan authorities an agreement with Argentina to recover all the transshipment activity which has been lost since November when the government of President Cristina Fernandez retaliated against Uruguay over bilateral issues.

• Wednesday, January 22nd 2014 - 11:29 UTC

  Uruguay warns trade negotiations with EU could leave “a Mercosur member out”

  

  Uruguayan foreign minister Luis Almagro said it should not come as a surprise if the negotiations for a trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union does not include all four original full members and leaves one out, although the objective is for all members to be part of the accord.

• Tuesday, January 21st 2014 - 15:24 UTC

  Mujica says Mercosur is 'seriously impaired” and admits resignation in relations with Argentina

  

  Uruguayan president Jose Mujica said that Mercosur is “seriously impaired” but it also has its strong points, and the fact Paraguay resumes full membership is very positive. Mujica was interviewed by a government financed newspaper, La República and again referred to the postponed Mercosur summit and the deteriorated relations with Argentina.

• Saturday, January 18th 2014 - 05:24 UTC

  Outbreak of “Clostridium Difficile” in Uruguay's largest hospital; situation under control

  

  Uruguay's main university hospital, suffering from an outbreak of the highly contagious bacteria “Clostridium Difficile” has been recommended “to suspend new entries to the sections involved, restrict visits and extreme hygiene measures” plus an epidemiological test of patients and staff.

• Friday, January 17th 2014 - 06:30 UTC

  Uruguay police officers training in 'restorative justice' methods in Cambridge

  

  Fourteen police officers from Uruguay are currently attending courses at the Criminology Institute at Cambridge University, as part of their training for the country's Citizens' Security program, implemented with the support from the Inter American Development bank.

• Thursday, January 16th 2014 - 09:04 UTC

  Open pit mining project in Uruguay questioned in Parliament and by environmentalists

  

  A major open pit mining project in Uruguay to extract and export magnetite (a kind of iron ore) and which the government of President Jose Mujica plans to instrument this month has been exposed to a battery of criticism because the administration refuses to show the terms of the contract and farm groups argue there is no final environment impact assessment study.

• Wednesday, January 15th 2014 - 19:24 UTC

  Uruguay among the world's ten countries with highest inflation

  

  Uruguay is ranked among the world's ten countries with the highest inflation, having climbed from position 15 to 10 last year, only surpassed in Latin America by Venezuela and Argentina. Last year Uruguay ended with an inflation of 8.52%, well above the 4% to 6% target, and according to Central bank officials “it remains the main challenge for the country's economic policy”.

• Tuesday, January 14th 2014 - 07:50 UTC

  China becomes the leading market for Uruguayan meat exports

  

  Uruguay's meat exports slid 6.5% in volume during 2013 compared to the previous year, but the big news is that China has become the main client for beef, followed by Nafta countries, (US, Canada and Mexico), according to the latest release from the country's National Meat Institute, INAC.

• Tuesday, January 14th 2014 - 07:46 UTC

  A 25-ton dead sperm whale finally removed from a Montevideo beach

  

  The remains of a sperm whale that washed ashore in one of Montevideo's beaches were finally hauled in a truck for burial in a municipal dump where a huge hole was drilled for the 16 meters long cetacean.

• Tuesday, January 14th 2014 - 00:08 UTC

  Bad years and non encouraging prospects for Uruguay fisheries exports

  

  Following on two years of poor performance and results, Uruguay's fishing industry is expected to face similar conditions in 2014, with ongoing labor disputes and tougher international markets particularly the European Union and Nigeria in Africa, which absorbed most of the country's hake, croaker and sea trout.