Meanwhile, down in Uruguay, things are coming along nicely

Peace Patriot's favorite elf toodles along in his 1987 Beetle, which he valued at $1,900 a couple of years ago. Notice it even has real bumpers. Sort of clashes with Obama's $1.1 million super-duper bus.

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Saturday, August 20th 2011 - 06:37 UTC

Feisty Uruguay wins respect from neighbours and investors

Uruguay, a plucky little country led by a former guerrilla leader whose most valuable possession is an old Volkswagen Beetle, is angling to become a new darling among global investors.

It is poised to regain investment-grade status after getting two credit rating upgrades in the last month, and its 2003 voluntary debt renegotiation is cited as an example for crisis-struck Europe.

Projects like a 1.9 billion dollars pulp mill complex have pushed investment to record highs, broadening out the economy's traditional agricultural base.

And the South American country of just 3.3 million people has grabbed headlines with recent soccer triumphs, including July's Copa America win over neighbouring rivals Brazil and Argentina.

The victory was not a fluke.

Being sandwiched between South America's biggest economies “is like being small in a pack of big dogs. You have to bark the loudest and act the toughest or else you don't exist,” said Ignacio Otegui, head of Uruguay's construction chamber

Uruguay demands respect from its neighbours but also earns it from outsiders, who value its stable institutions, low corruption levels and respect for the rule of law -- setting it apart from many others in Latin America.

Foreign direct investment in Uruguay jumped to 1.63 billion dollars last year, nearly doubling the amount in 2005.

More
http://en.mercopress.com/2011/08/20/feisty-uruguay-wins-respect-from-neighbours-and-investors

At least U.S. torture specialist Dan Mitrione's not among them! He's gone on to the great sound-proofed torture room in the sky.

Thanks for the Mercopress article. Very interesting.

(That's one great Beetle.)