Peru is interested in regional integration, security, education, combating narcotics but full membership of Mercosur is “distant” said president elect Ollanta Humala during a one day visit to Uruguay, before leaving late Monday for Argentina.
A remnant of volcanic ashes spewed by the Chilean volcano Puyehue over a week ago and which continues to hover over the River Plate again interrupted Monday activities in the three main airports, Carrasco in Montevideo and Ezeiza and Aeroparque in the city of Buenos Aires.
A controversy over land taxes inside the Uruguayan government exposed claims from President Jose Mujica that “meetings are taking place to debilitate his administration and even possibly remove him”
As the volcanic ash cloud begun dissipating airlines operating from the airports of Buenos Aires, Montevideo, and the south of Brazil resumed some flights Friday afternoon but it will take several days to be back to normal as companies reprogram backlogs.
In anticipation of Uruguay Oil Round II, scheduled for next September, Singapore based Reflect Geophysical Pte Ltd announced the completion of the survey for the acquisition of geophysical data in the Uruguayan offshore, through the seismic vessel R/V Reflect Aries.
Uruguay, most of Argentina, the south of Chile and even the Falkland Islands is the South Atlantic are suffering the consequences of the volcanic ash cloud that remains hovering over the region forcing airlines to cancel flights until further notice.
Visiting Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping signed Wednesday in Uruguay 17 cooperation agreements and trade contracts for the purchase of 530 million US dollars in Uruguayan goods before leaving for Chile the third leg of his tour of Latin America.
Flights from Uruguay’s main international airport Carrasco and from Buenos Aires busiest air terminals have been cancelled Thursday until further notice because of the volcanic ash cloud which again is hovering over the River Plate as winds have changed.
The Uruguayan government is trying to decide how to implement a controversial new tax on land holdings involving approximately 60 million dollars per annum and which has exposed deep differences in the ruling coalition, is rejected by farmers and feared by investors.
Authorities in Uruguay say they have found about 600 dead penguins washed up on the Atlantic coast since Saturday. Experts are trying to determine what has killed the sea birds.