The number of tourists arriving to Uruguay in the first weeks of this summer season has dropped 14% compared to the same period a year ago, which represents 20.600 less, mostly Argentines and Brazilians, according to Benjamin Liberoff, Director of Tourism.
A summer brawl has surfaced in Buenos Aires between the car washers’ industry and the Argentine Meteorological service that are blamed for their poor forecasts which scares customers from the outlets.
Private analysts lowered their forecasts for Uruguay’s GDP growth this year from an average of 4% in December to 3.86%, according to the latest monthly survey on economic expectations released by the Central Bank. Expectations for January ranged between 3.2% and 4%.
Uruguay’s economy is poised to grow 4% this year and in 2014, which is above the region’s average, according to the World Bank’s latest Global Economic Prospects issued this week. However Uruguay will be ranked twelfth in the growth ranking of Latinamerica this year but ahead of Brazil and Argentina with 3.4%.
Twenty one countries from South America and Africa strongly supported their commitment to keep the South Atlantic free of arms of massive destruction and expressed concern over the British military presence in the Falklands/Malvinas, which are claimed by Argentina.
Twenty four countries from South America and Africa with coast on the Atlantic Ocean will be debating next week in Uruguay how to increase cooperation in several fields such as environment, charting and seabed resources exploration and fighting organized crime.
The shortest and most sober of a day of emotional speeches and promises was that from Uruguayan president Jose Mujica who asked the massive rally in support of President Hugo Chavez that if the Venezuelan leader “tomorrow is not with us”, then unity, peace and work must prevail.
Following on the climbing tendency since the beginning of the year, the ‘blue’ or ‘parallel’ US dollar traded in Buenos Aires at 7.25 Argentine Pesos with a 46% gap over the ‘official’ dollar that remained relatively stable at 4.95 Pesos.
Opposition leader Enrique Capriles accepted Venezuela’s high court sentence endorsing the postponement of President Hugo Chavez inauguration on Thursday and the ruling that the cancer-stricken leader and his administration remained in office, since “as president re-elect there is no interruption of performance of duties”.
President Cristina Fernandez (CFK) as expected made the welcoming ceremony for the Argentine frigate ARA Libertad (retained in Ghana for 78 days) into a ‘sovereignty and dignity’ political rally including the support of 20.000 militants, mostly bused in by political organizations, in which she blasted hedge funds, ‘global social predators’ and warned that through extortion and force nobody is going to obtain anything from Argentina.