Uruguay

• Thursday, August 16th 2012 - 01:29 UTC

  For consular purposes Uruguay considers Malvinas as the “dependent territory” of the Islas Falklands

  

  For consular purposes the Uruguayan Foreign Affairs ministry refers to the Malvinas Islands, which are claimed by Argentina with the support of Mercosur members, as the “dependent territory” of the “Islas Falklands”.

• Wednesday, August 15th 2012 - 23:50 UTC

  Uruguay discourages short-term capital inflow to ensure macroeconomic stability

  

  Uruguay's central bank unveiled measures on Wednesday aimed at cooling the local Peso's appreciation by discouraging foreign investment in the bank's short-term debt. To combat the Peso's rise, officials ordered that 40% of new foreign capital invested in central bank bills be frozen in an account at the central bank.

• Wednesday, August 15th 2012 - 09:43 UTC

  Unasur ratifies sanctions; Paraguay president more concerned with OAS position

  

  Unasur ratified on Tuesday Paraguay’s suspension from the block at a meeting of the so called High Level Group in Lima, Peru which assessed the situation of the landlocked country.

• Wednesday, August 15th 2012 - 09:32 UTC

  Mujica support falls to 39%; pot and Mercosur sanctions on Paraguay weighed

  

  Uruguayan president Jose Mujica approval plummeted to 39% in July, the lowest since taking office among other reasons for his plan to de-criminalize marihuana and his handling of the controversy with Argentina, according to the latest public opinion poll made public this week.

• Tuesday, August 14th 2012 - 23:38 UTC

  Mercosur farmers plan to sow record soybean area; stocks drop to half from a year ago

  

  Mercosur farmers in Brazil and Argentina are forecast to plant more soybeans for harvesting this season in response to higher prices, at the expense of wheat and corn sowing, according to Oil World. Paraguay and Uruguay Agriculture ministries have also anticipated an increase in the soybeans planted areas.

• Monday, August 13th 2012 - 05:58 UTC

  Argentina again conditions contract to deep-dredge River Plate access canal

  

  Foreign Minister Hector Timerman said that Argentina “is ready to sign” the deep dredging of the River Plane access canal Martin Garcia but warned that before doubts generated by Uruguay’s National Auditing Office regarding the performance of dredgers’ Riovía during the tender process, must be resolved.

• Saturday, August 11th 2012 - 11:45 UTC

  Uruguay will continue with Mercosur but is also interested in the Pacific alliance

  

  Uruguay will continue “to look after” Mercosur in spite of the strong diplomatic discrepancies with Argentina, but will also continue with an interest in participating in other trade blocks of the region, said President Jose Mujica.

• Saturday, August 11th 2012 - 11:26 UTC

  “Two tough years” ahead for Uruguayan construction and real estate

  

  The Uruguayan construction industry faces tough years ahead because of the international crisis and its effects on neighbouring Argentina, forecasted economist Jorge Caumont who is also an advisor of several real estate agents.

• Friday, August 10th 2012 - 08:56 UTC

  Uruguay begins to discuss ‘marihuana bill’ that makes government pot dealer

  

  A plan by Uruguayan president Jose Mujica to turn the government into the nation's marijuana dealer has been presented to Congress. The aim of the proposed bill is to take over an illegal marijuana trafficking business estimated to be worth 30 to 40 million dollars annually.

• Tuesday, August 7th 2012 - 20:14 UTC

  Mercosur has only benefited Brazil in the last ten years with a surplus of 36.8bn

  

  Brazil is the only country that in the last ten years has benefited from Mercosur with an intra-zone trade surplus of 36.8 billion dollars while the other three full members, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay have accumulated huge deficits in the same period, according to Argentine economist Orlando Ferreres a regular columnist from La Nacion with graduate studies in Harvard.