Mercosur

• Tuesday, June 1st 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Brazil sends peace keeping contingent to Haiti

  Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva saw off this Monday 150 Brazilian servicemen who will be part of the new United Nations multilateral peacekeeping force in Haiti

• Monday, May 31st 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Chilean ruling revives possibility of Pinochet prosecution

  Chilean judges on Friday re-opened a door that could lead to prosecution on rights abuse charges of former dictator Augusto Pinochet even though he had been deemed mentally unfit to stand trial due to age-related “dementia.”

• Monday, May 31st 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Latam/EU summit ends in diplomatic spat

  European Union, Latin American and Caribbean leaders for multilateralism and UN reform, as their summit in Guadalajara ended at the weekend.

• Friday, May 28th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Unemployment in Chile reached 8,7%

  Unemployment in Chile reached 8,7% during the February-April quarter after experiencing a 0,2% increase compared to the same period a year ago and 0,6% over the previous quarter.

• Friday, May 28th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Germany optimistic about UN reforms

  German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said this Thursday in Mexico City that the European Union and Latinamerica will press for reforms in the United Nations with the purpose of giving the world organization a greater action capability.

• Friday, May 28th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  China becomes OAS observer.

  China was accepted this Thursday as one of the sixty country observers in the Organization of American States, OAS, during a formal session of the Permanent Council.

• Friday, May 28th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Brazil's economy slow to pick up

  Brazil's economy expanded 2,7% during the first quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2003, cutting three consecutive negative quarters. Compared to the last quarter of 2003 the economy grew 1,6%.

• Friday, May 28th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Magallanes businessmen concerned with freight costs

  The rising price of fuel and freight costs are causing concern among Punta Arenas business community which is highly dependent on long distance transport for supplies.

• Friday, May 28th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Chilean justice blocks Menem extradition.

  Former Argentine President Carlos Menem won a first round in the Chilean courts Thursday as a high-ranking judge threw out one of two requests from Argentina for Menem's extradition to answer to corruption charges.

• Thursday, May 27th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Influenza epidemic in Santiago.

  Chilean Public Health Minister Pedro García confirmed that metropolitan Santiago is suffering from an influenza epidemic and an outbreak of the highly contagious respiratory sincicial virus, VRS.