Mercosur
Mercosur220.000 visas
US consular offices in Argentina are overwhelmed with requests for visas. Last year 20,000 were granted but this year at the current rate of 800/1000 per day, it is estimated that 220,000 visas will be the final number.
Argentine Minister confident
Argentine Economy Minister Roberto Lavagna currently in Washington said he's confident on reaching an agreement with the International Monetary Fund, IMF, based on a new program, by the end of June.
Crucial day for fast track
The US Senate is expected to approve this Thursday the Trade Promotion Authority, TPA, the former “fast track” that will enable the President Bush administration to involve in trade agreements with other countries and blocks.
Spanish losses
The Argentine crisis so far has cost the main Spanish companies with investments in the country an estimated 10,9 billion US dollars according to one of Madrid's main financial newspapers, Expansión.
Cardoso warns about the “Argentina syndrome”
“If the coming elected authorities of Brazil are incompetent, the country runs the risk of turning into a new Argentina”, warned Brazilian president Fernando Cardoso who has become directly involved in the campaign trail.
Breaking News
Too many immigrants / Chile after new trade links / “I feel am a gaucho” / Another trouble spot? / US spurs trade round with Chile / Extra digit in Chilean cellular
All eyes set on Colombia
With less than a week before next Sunday's Colombian presidential election the candidate that has promised an iron fist fight against the guerrilla movement, Alvaro Uribe, leads comfortably with 49,3% of vote intention, more than doubling his runner up, Mr. Horacio Serpa with 23%, according to a poll published in Bogotá's main daily newspaper, El Tiempo.
Controversy over the IMF
Argentine public opinion is split down quiet evenly regarding the convenience or not of reaching an agreement with the International Monetary Fund to obtain much needed financial assistance to overcome the current crisis.
Try again Jimmy
US President George Bush is expected this week to adopt a harder line towards Cuba leaving no doubts as to where his administration stands following the bridge-building historic visit of former president Jimmy Carter, who during a speech in Havana, called for more civil liberties in the island but also the lifting of the forty years US trade and communications embargo.
US farm bill condemned
The Cairns Group, Mercosur and other Latinamerican countries highly dependent on agricultural commodities condemned United States for a bill that will hand out 190 billion US dollars to US farmers during the next ten years.
