Jan 6 (Reuters) – Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez
tried to oust on Wednesday the country’s central bank chief
over his reluctance to use billions of dollars in foreign
currency reserves to make debt payments this year.

Martin Redrado, a Harvard-educated economist and former
trade minister, is resisting government calls for him to step
down as central bank president.

BUENOS AIRES, Dec 18 (Reuters) – Argentina’s economy shrank
for a second straight quarter from July to September, but
industrial output jumped in November as auto production surged,
indicating a turn in the economy, data showed on Friday.

Local media and some economists said the country had fallen
into a recession, even though the economy was flat in the third
quarter compared with the second quarter, ruling out a
recession under some definitions.

BUENOS AIRES, Dec 14 (Reuters) – Argentina will set aside
$6.57 billion of its foreign currency reserves to ensure the
country meets its 2010 debt payments, the government said on
Monday in a move aimed at lowering its costs of issuing new
debt.

The fund is intended to remove doubts about Argentina’s
ability to pay and could be used to make payments on government
bonds or debt with multilateral lending organizations, Economy
Minister Amado Boudou said in a nationally televised address
with President Cristina Fernandez.

LA PAZ (Reuters) – Leftist Bolivian President Evo Morales vowed on Monday to increase state control over the economy and strengthen political power for indigenous groups, a day after exit polls showed he was re-elected in a landslide.

Bolivia’s top electoral body has not yet released official results, but exit polls and quick counts showed Morales took at least 63 percent of the vote, more than 35 percentage points ahead of his closest challenger, rightist former Governor Manfred Reyes Villa.

LA PAZ (Reuters) – Bolivian President Evo Morales was heading for a landslide re-election on Sunday as voters backed his left-wing reforms asserting greater state control over the economy and increasing social spending on the poor.

Exit polls and a quick count tabulation by Uno television showed Morales took at least 61 percent of the vote and held a lead of more than 35 percentage points over his closest challenger, rightist former governor Manfred Reyes Villa.

LA PAZ, Dec 6 (Reuters) – Leftist Bolivian President Evo
Morales easily won re-election on Sunday, three television exit
polls showed.

Morales received at least 61 percent of the vote, according
to exit polls released by the private TV channels ATB, Uno and
PAT. His closest rival, rightist former governor Manfredo Reyes
Villa, had about 23 percent of votes.

LA PAZ, Dec 6 (Reuters) – Bolivian President Evo Morales,
whose leftist economic policies have made him broadly popular
with the poor but angered business leaders, is expected to win
re-election on Sunday, allowing him to expand state control
over the economy.

A victory by Morales would solidify his dominance over
Bolivian politics and further weaken a divided conservative
opposition tied to the country’s business elite.

MONTEVIDEO, Nov 29 (Reuters) – A former guerrilla fighter
who was jailed for 14 years is poised on Sunday to become
Uruguay’s next president in a runoff vote seen as a referendum
on the economic success of the country’s ruling leftist
coalition.

Jose Mujica, 74, who waged an armed revolt against
Uruguay’s democratically elected government in the 1960s and
1970s, leads by at least 6 points in opinion polls over his
center-right rival, former President Luis Lacalle.

MONTEVIDEO, Nov 30 (Reuters) – Jose Mujica, a former
guerrilla fighter who vows to continue investor-friendly
policies, won Uruguay’s presidential run-off, solidifying the
ruling leftist coalition’s hold on power.

With ballots counted at 96 percent of polling stations,
Mujica had 53 percent of the vote compared to nearly 43 percent
for his conservative rival, former President Luis Lacalle,
official results showed.

MONTEVIDEO, Nov 29 (Reuters) – A blunt-talking former
guerrilla fighter won Uruguay’s presidential election on
Sunday, promising to leave behind his radical past and take a
moderate path in one of Latin America’s most stable countries.

Jose Mujica, a 74-year-old ex-senator, claimed victory
after his rival, conservative former President Luis Lacalle,
conceded the race with pollsters’ projections showing Mujica
ahead with around 51 percent of the vote.