Exempting Covid-19 vaccines from intellectual property rights will not speed up production or distribution of the jabs, a pharmaceutical industry association argued Tuesday. Proponents of doing away with IP rights say more companies could produce the vaccine, which could then be used in poorer nations that have yet to receive any jabs. But the head … Read more
Economy Minister Martín Guzmán is expected to visit Washington in mid-March to continue talks with the IMF on a new loan package, a Fund spokesperson said Thursday. The two sides have been in discussions for months to try to agree on a suite of reform measures that could unlock new funding to help Argentina recover … Read more
THE WEEK IN CORONAVIRUS There were 2,098,728 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 51,887 deaths at press time yesterday as against 2,054,681 cases and exactly 51,000 deaths the previous Friday when Ginés González García resigned in disgrace from the Health Ministry over the “VIP vaccine” scandal. Carla Vizzotti was already up and running as the new … Read more
Anyier sits at the side of the road gasping for breath as the beating sun and 3,700-metre (12,000-foot) altitude take their toll. It has been seven hours since she entered Chile from Bolivia on foot – her fifth border crossing since leaving Venezuela nearly a month and 5,000 kilometres (more than 3,000 miles) ago. “This has been … Read more
Brazil’s economy shrank 4.1 percent in 2020, officials said Wednesday, closing out what analysts called another “lost decade” for Latin America’s biggest economy with a year badly disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. The contraction, which was in line with analysts’ forecasts, added to a bad run for a country that was just recovering from a … Read more
President Alberto Fernández reiterated his call for broad judicial reform on Monday, branding the Judiciary as privileged and politicised as he delivered an annual state of the nation address. The Peronist leader faced a hostile opposition as he delivered a speech marking the opening of the 139th ordinary sessions of Congress, with angry interjections from … Read more
Brazil wants to alter the rules of the Mercosur trade bloc to make it more flexible, so that each country can independently negotiate trade agreements with other nations. “Our goal is for Mercosur to be an efficient negotiating bloc.” Brazil’s Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo told the AFP news agency in an interview on Thursday. “If … Read more
Argentina’s government is investigating several food companies for allegedly withholding production or deliveries, possibly increasing oversight of an industry that already faces widespread price controls. The Production & Development Ministry plans to investigate Danone SA, Unilever PLC and Procter & Gamble Co, among others, for not “increasing production to its highest level of installed capacity” … Read more
State-run oil company YPF SA needs to come up with more than US$ 1 billion to spur drilling in Patagonia, where the firm is leading development of the biggest shale patch outside the United States. It’s not going to be easy. YPF restructured bonds last week to free up money to spend on shale, which … Read more
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said that more changes are underway after naming a former general to replace the University of Chicago-educated economist running state-controlled Petroleo Brasileiro SA. The leadership change at Petrobras followed a feud with Bolsonaro over fuel prices after Petrobras adjusted them to align with international rates. His comments on Saturday may add … Read more