Mercosur

• Saturday, May 24th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Argentina's strategist defies the odds

  Eduardo Duhalde says he is playing out the last moves of the most important chess game of his life. By the looks of things, Argentina's outgoing president is winning comfortably.

• Saturday, May 24th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Milk shortage in Argentina

  The significant drop in Argentine milk production has forced Buenos Aires dairy plants to import fresh milk from Uruguay at a daily rate of 25,000 liters. According to Argentine sources this is the first time in history that the country has been forced to buy milk overseas to honor export contracts of dairy produce

• Saturday, May 24th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Kirchner ponders shake-up of Argentine top brass

  President-elect Nestor Kirchner is considering changes to the leadership of the country's armed forces, the man who will be his Cabinet chief said Saturday.

• Saturday, May 24th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Latin American Leaders End Rio Group Summit

  Latin American leaders have closed the annual Rio Group summit in Cuzco, Peru, with the signing of a resolution promoting regional democracy and economic stability.

• Friday, May 23rd 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Kirchner will take office before Congress

  Breaking with history incoming Argentine president Nestor Kirchner will be taking office Sunday May 25 in Congress and not as traditionally in the country's Government House, Casa Rosada, world known for the balconies from where Juan Domingo and Evita Peron addressed the masses assembled in Plaza de Mayo.

• Thursday, May 22nd 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Encouraging signs for Mercosur .

  Mercosur delegates received an encouraging sign this week when Chris Patten the European Union Foreign Affairs Commissar admitted that discussions for a trade agreement between EU and the South American block could conclude before the end of 2003.

• Thursday, May 22nd 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Slower growth for US economy.

  Prospects for the United States economy remain uncertain even after the end of the Iraq war, and the recovery momentum is still in doubt, indicated the US Federal Reserve president Alan Greenspan addressing a Congressional committee this week.

• Thursday, May 22nd 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Orthodoxy and IMF win the day.

  In spite of strong pressure and after two long days of deliberations, the Monetary Policy Committee of the Brazilian Central Bank, Copom, stood firm and kept the basic interest rate, Selic, unchanged at 26,5%.

• Wednesday, May 21st 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Kirchner names cabinet, Bielsa in Foreign Affairs.

  Argentine elected president Nestor Kirchner, 53, announced this Tuesday in Rio Gallegos, Santa Cruz, a cabinet of moderates that includes trusted political friends from Patagonia, his sister, independent political allies and a few men loyal to outgoing caretaker president Eduardo Duhalde.

• Wednesday, May 21st 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  IMF top marks for president Lula

  Anne Krueger the International Monetary Fund, IMF, First Deputy Managing Director congratulated Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for his management of the economy and efforts to reform the tax and social security systems.