Thursday 18 December
2008, San José, Costa
Rica
First Latin America,
Caribbean Summit To
Boost Regional
Integration
Panama Calls For UN
General Assembly Session
On Financial Crisis
Brazil's Telecom
Operators To Cooperate With Police On
Internet Child Porn Cases
Argentine Senate
Approves Nationalization
of Flagship Airline
Uruguay Approves Bill To
Allow Changes In Gender,
Name
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Argentine Senate
Approves Nationalization
of Flagship Airline
Buenos Aires - The
Argentine Senate
approved Wednesday the
nationalization of
Aerolineas Argentinas,
the country's flagship
airline owned by Spain's
Marsans Group.
President Cristina
Fernandez is expected to
sign the bill into law
before the end of the
year following
Wednesday's 42-20 Senate
vote.
The new law will also
enable the government to
take over Austral Lineas
Aereas, an Aerolineas
Argentinas subsidiary.
Aerolineas Argentinas
and Austral operate
about 80 percent of
Argentina's domestic
flights.
Backed by President
Fernandez, the
initiative was put
forward by the
government weeks ago and
was approved on Dec. 3
by the Chamber of
Duties, the lower house
of the congress.
Aerolineas Argentinas'
owner, Madrid-based
Marsans Group, is
challenging the
Argentine government's
act before a World Bank
arbitration body since
it considers the
takeover "arbitrary and
illegitimate", the
company said in a news
release Wednesday.
Marsans Group said the
two airlines were worth
440 million U.S.
dollars. But the
Argentine government
claimed they were some
833 million dollars in
debt, suggesting the
government did not have
to pay anything.
The two sides failed to
reach any agreement on
the airlines' value
before the government
put the takeover bill
for vote in congress.
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