Argentine Cabinet Chief Jorge Capitanich shared seldom heard praise for the United States’ support for Argentina in its long-standing dispute over the so called vulture funds, suing the South American country over its defaulted bonds of more than a decade ago, noted the Buenos Aires Herald. 

El Espectador of Bogotá noted with approval that the Colombia firm, Trout Co. S.A.S. (an exporter of rainbow trout), is one of the five most successful exporters to the United States since Colombia signed the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the U.S. in May 2012. 

El Comercio of Quito reported that while the government of the United States made a severe criticism of Ecuador, it got the same back in return. 

In La Hora of Guatemala City Manuel Rodríguez wrote that remittances from illegal Guatemalan migrants to the United States are one of the largest sources of Guatemalan income, “which results in dramatically increased buying power for a large part of the population.” 

So noted Juan José Lagorio BNAmericas of Santiago.  Colombia has approved 26.2 trillion pesos (US$13.4 billion) in funding for nine highway projects, part of a master plan to revamp and expand Latin America’s fourth largest road network. 

In El Financiero of Mexico City Rocóo Hernández Monreal wrote that Héctor López Santillana, Minister of Economic Development for the State of Guanajuato, said that conditions are good there for the creation of at least “eight clusters” in the agro-food, chemical, fashion, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, tourism, new technologies, and housing sectors that can repeat the success

El Financiero of Costa Rica reported that Massachusetts Institute of Technology is looking for innovative Central Americans.  They seek individuals under 35 years of age who have created an innovative technological solution to a problem that will have a social impact.  

La Tribuna of Tegucigalpa noted that Paraguay has joined the list of countries pursuing public-private partnerships to jump start infrastructure development, a mechanism in vogue in Latin America to overcome “bottlenecks” in the construction of roads, airports, and power grids. 

Dinero Magazine of Bogotá reported that Latin America is in the sights of big oil companies.  This renewed interest in the region comes despite “the difficult internal situations” of many countries. 

MercoPress of Montevideo noted that Brazil’s private sector is concerned about difficult times ahead, particularly regarding exports to Argentina and Venezuela, and is proposing that Mercosur trade should be done with local currencies instead of the U.S. dollar.