The economies of Argentina and Venezuela are the least well-off in the region due to pressures on inflation, the balance of payments, and foreign exchange markets that developed last year, the International Monetary Fund warned.
The Brazilian government is determined to advance with negotiations for a trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union even if it means leaving Argentina for a second phase of the process, according to sources from Itamaraty, the country's foreign ministry, reported in the Rio do Janeiro media.
Venezuela decreed a new price control law that sets limits on company profits and establishes prison terms for those charged with hoarding or over-charging, part of populist President Nicolas Maduro's efforts to tame inflation.
Ecuadorean airline Tame has suspended flights to Venezuela, demanding 43m dollars in overdue payments for tickets. Some 80 passengers were left stranded on Thursday at the airport in the Ecuadorean capital, Quito. Tame says the Venezuelan Central Bank has not transferred any money to its account in Ecuador since April 2013.
Discotheques have long operated inside Venezuelan penitentiaries, the head of the country's prison service said Thursday in response to a public uproar over the death of a young man after partying at a disco behind bars.
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”.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro appointed seven new ministers. His announcement was made during an event with the Movement for Peace and Life. Venezuela has been shocked by the extent of crime and killings, which means according to private organizations stats that only two out of ten cases ever are caught and face trial.
International airlines operating in Venezuela have 3.3 billion trapped because of currency controls, the International Air Transport Association, IATA, revealed. Airlines have to wait around 12 months for the government to convert their Bolivar earnings into dollars, with the time lag growing, according to the Venezuela Airline Association.
Thousands of people attended the funeral of actress and former Miss Venezuela Monica Spear and her ex husband this Friday, in solidarity with the family of the couple that was slain this week in an armed robbery.
Gunmen shot dead a former Miss Venezuela and her ex-husband in the South American nation, authorities said today. Monica Spear, 29, a soap opera actress, and Henry Berry, 39, died in an attempted robbery on the highway between Puerto Cabello and Valencia in central Venezuela.