Tag Archives: Latin America

Argentina mulls benefits cut for dollar buyers

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“Argentina’s government is studying the possibility of removing public service subsidies from residents who buy dollars as part of the latest effort to protect the peso after a sharp devaluation last month.  The idea is to strip subsidies that keep the costs of electricity, gas, water and other public services down for those who buy dollars for savings.  ‘It is not fair that we subsidize electricity and gas for those that can save 20 percent of their salaries to buy dollars,’ Fernandez said.  Fernandez said wealthier residents are buying the fewest dollars for savings since it is ‘more profitable’ to invest in other assets, including properties and businesses.”

http://www.worldbulletin.net/news/128338/argentina-mulls-benefits-cut-for-dollar-buyers

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Dad Can’t Buy Daughter Shoes as Argentine Currency Falls

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“Argentines see their standard of living falling as the fastest pace of inflation in a decade erodes their purchasing power and confidence in President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner’s economic policies. Last month’s 19 percent devaluation of the peso, which drove up prices on products from cars to refrigerators, highlights Fernandez’s dilemma.  In a series of Twitter posts from a summit in Havana last month, Fernandez said banks, importers and exporters were behind ‘speculative’ movements in the markets, without giving more details.  Sales of imported luxury cars rose, as Argentines sold dollars on the black market and then bought the cars at the official exchange rate, saving 40 percent.”

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-02-03/dad-can-t-buy-girl-new-shoes-as-argentina-devaluation-ruins-gift

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Bitcoins in Argentina: A New Safe Haven?

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“It is estimated that between 5,000 and 6,000 Argentines use bitcoins, making it the largest community in Latin America. According to the Fundación Bitcoin Argentina, around 50 to 60 local businesses accept the currency, and there are several hundred bitcoin miners.  Rodolfo Andragnes, vice-president of Fundación Bitcoin Argentina, says that the popularity of Bitcoin can be explained in part by the country’s economic past and present. ‘Argentina is very attentive to all these kinds of things. As a country we, all Argentines, have suffered financial crises many times… They see in Bitcoin an opportunity to avoid the problems that we suffer here,’ says Andragnes.”

http://www.argentinaindependent.com/currentaffairs/bitcoins-in-argentina-a-new-safe-haven/

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UN Claims Uruguay Not Allowed to End Marijuana Prohibition

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“With the recent decision to end decades of pot prohibition in Uruguay making it the first entire nation to take the step, analysts widely anticipate similar efforts around the world to accelerate. Voters in Colorado and Washington state have completely nullified the federal and international marijuana regimes.  Across Latin America and Europe, meanwhile, drug policy has been hotly debated, with at least two nations so far — Portugal and the Czech Republic — decriminalizing all drugs.  In response to the trends, UN narcotics bureaucrats, whose generous tax-funded salaries depend on the perpetuation of the war on various plants and substances, have responded with outrage and concern.”

http://www.thenewamerican.com/world-news/south-america/item/17174-un-claims-uruguay-not-allowed-to-end-marijuana-prohibition

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Bitcoin Seen as Safe Haven in Brazil Boosts Online Trade

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“Brazil’s sinking real and quickening inflation are helping the country’s biggest bitcoin brokerage drum up buyers for the virtual currency.  Brazil’s real has plunged 9.6 percent in the past three months against the dollar, making it difficult for policy makers to curb inflation despite the world’s biggest borrowing-cost increases. Inflation that accelerated to 5.91 percent in 2013, even after central bank President Alexandre Tombini said it would slow, is adding to Brazilians’ interest in bitcoin, a virtual currency that surged to $1,005 last week on trading platform Mt Gox, up from $15 about a year ago.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-27/bitcoin-seen-as-save-haven-in-brazil-boosts-online-trade.html

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Police find $7.2 million cash stashed in suitcases at airport in Panama

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“Investigators say they suspect the cash, which had been concealed in hidden compartments in luggage on a flight from Honduras, was being moved for a powerful cartel, but they haven’t said which one. The money was mostly in U.S. $100 bills, authorities said.  In a case that highlights the regional impacts of the drug trade, now Honduran investigators are trying to figure out how the suitcases slipped by airport authorities, drug police and special investigators at the Toncontin airport in Tegucigalpa.  Authorities have suspended dozens of officers as they investigate, Honduran police told CNN affiliate Televicentro.”

http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/15/world/americas/panama-airport-suitcases-cash/index.html

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The ‘Cheapest’ Country in the World

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“In socialist Venezuela, those with access to foreign currency can propel themselves into the one percent, flying around the world and living in five-star hotels, while locals earning in Bolívares battle one of the most expensive economies on the planet, struggling to find and afford basics such as cooking oil, chicken and toilet paper. Fed by inflation, the divide has grown rapidly in tandem with the expansion of the black market.  Those with dollars, or any hard currency, are able to take advantage of the thriving black market by buying local money either in shady street deals or in white-collar transactions with willing brokers by transferring their money between international bank accounts.”

http://world.time.com/2014/01/23/venezuelas-currency-controls-propels-those-with-connections/

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Erosion of Argentine Peso Sends a Shudder Through Latin America

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“Cities across Argentina are still unnerved by all the looting that broke out last month after police officers went on strike, protesting salaries eroded by rampant inflation. Residents fumed over blackouts that left them sweltering during a recent heat wave. Then the currency plunged this week, the steepest decline since the nation’s economic collapse in 2002, stirring fears that another major financial crisis could be around the corner.  The pressures have been building for years. Generous social spending after the crisis in 2002, like freezing household electricity rates and making payments to poor families, has widened Argentina’s deficit. The country has been printing money, fueling inflation.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/25/world/americas/argentina-eases-currency-controls-but-citizens-are-not-reassured.html

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Venezuela Devalues Bolivar By Another 44%; Inflation Rages At 50%

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“Venezuelans traveling abroad and airlines will use Sicad FX rate which was last 11.36 bolivars per dollar. Those spared from the most recent devaluation, for now, are students abroad, pensioners, retirees, consular and diplomatic services who will continue using 6.3 bolivars/USD rate. This follows comparable steps taken in late December, when the Bolivar was devalued by the same amount for any non-residents and tourists entering the nation, as the nation unrolled its centrally-planned currency regime in which the Bolivar is offered through a dollar-auction system called Sicad.”

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-01-22/venezuela-devalues-bolivar-another-44-some-still-600-higher-black-market-due-50-infl

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Brazilian Firm Unveils First Bitcoin ATM in South America

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“Next week, South America will get its first Bitcoin ATM, during the Campus Party 2014 festival. The event, a technology festival and party, will take place from January 27 to February 2 in São Paulo, Brazil.  Mercado Bitcoin — a market exchange where bitcoins can be bought and sold for Brazilian currency — is the organization responsible for the idea. The Campus Party coordinators expect 100,000 attendees to encounter the digital currency for the first time.  Mercado Bitcoin imported the ATM, a Lamasso, at a cost of US$10,000, or 11.5 Btc.  The organization’s chief executive, Rodrigo Batista, said the ATM will be available somewhere in São Paulo’s financial center after the event.”

http://panampost.com/sofia-ramirez-fionda/2014/01/21/brazilian-firm-unveils-first-bitcoin-atm-in-south-america/

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