Stories for February 27th 2007
Argentine/UK controversy over Falklands' war commemoration
Britain hopes the Argentine government will reconsider its decision not to participate in joint commemorations of the 25th anniversary of the Falkland Islands conflict as offered by London, said a spokesperson for the British Embassy in Buenos Aires.
Lula da Silva and Vazquez agree to another patch for Mercosur
Presidents from Uruguay and Brazil, meeting in Colonia Monday, seem to have smoothed strained economic and political ties with promises of stronger bilateral relations and a new boost to the battered Mercosur block, although Argentina, just fifty kilometers away was not present at the summit.
U.S., Brazil should lead bio-fuel plan
Our hemisphere has major oil exporters, such as Canada, Mexico and Venezuela; and oil importers, such as the United States, Chile, Uruguay and nearly all the smaller countries in Central America and the Caribbean.
Repsol looking for another shareholder for the YPF branch
Repsol YPF chairman Antoni Brufau on announcing Tuesday the discovery in Libya of its largest ever oil field and lower profits in 2006, admitted that the company was looking for another shareholder for its Argentine branch YPF.
Climate change champion and Oscar winning Al Gore to visit Chile
Nobel Peace Prize nominee and former Clinton administration vice-president Al Gore will make a trip to Chile this coming May as the guest of 2005 conservative presidential candidate Sebastian Piñera. And a very expensive guest at that: Gore's visit will cost almost 400.000 US dollars.
China's black Tuesday spills to the global economy
Stock markets round the world slumped Tuesday to record lows of 2001 and 2004, with the US Dow Jones index plummeting by more than 400 points and Latinamerican markets posting sharp losses averaging 4%.
The sell-off was sparked by a near 9% down slide on the Shanghai Composite Index, (the worst in a decade) as investors worried that China may pass rules to limit demand for stocks. Banks, automobiles and steel companies were hardest hit.
El Niño subsides: fishermen celebrate, farmers fear drought
By next May the “El Niño” phenomenon, which warms the Pacific Ocean by an average of 1.5 degrees Celsius (3.5 degrees Fahrenheit), will have completely disappeared.
While Chile's fishing industry utters a loud sigh of relief – cooler water means larger catches — the departure of El Niño could cause severe problems for the agricultural sector, which may be facing drought.
Ecuador to repair roads system with funds to repay creditors
Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa declared Tuesday a national roads system emergency and ordered the Army to begin the construction and maintenance of the country's road network to be financed with funds originally destined to honor foreign debt payments.
CIA believes Raul Castro is consolidating as Fidel's successor
The United States government said Tuesday that Raul Castro has consolidated as successor of his brother since last July and admitted that in the event of Fidel's death there will not be an
immediate “positive change”.
Argentine strikers cut gas supply to south Chile methanol plant
Canadian company Methanex plant in Chile's southern region of Magallanes has seen natural gas supply fall 10% following an indefinite strike from oil and gas workers union in neighboring Argentina. Methanex is the world's leading producer or methanol.
