Mercosur

• Thursday, April 3rd 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Poll: Brazilian President Very Popular

  After three months in office, leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva enjoys widespread popularity, according to a opinion poll released Wednesday.

• Wednesday, April 2nd 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  U.S. expecting first shipment of Venezuelan gasoline

  Venezuela is resuming shipments of unleaded gasoline from the Paraguana refinery complex, with a first U.S.-bound ship currently being loaded

• Tuesday, April 1st 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Chilean Central Bank president resigns

  Carlos Massad, Chile's Central Bank president resigned this Monday following a string of financial scandals involving the stealing of privileged information from his office by unfaithful dependents.

• Tuesday, April 1st 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  EU-Mercosur talks on track

  European Union-Mercosur trade negotiations are on track according to the timetable agreed in Rio do Janeiro last August, and the recent Athens EU ministerial meeting ratified political support to the talks, said Pascal Lamy, EU Trade Commissioner currently visiting Mercosur member countries.

• Tuesday, April 1st 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Breaking News

  Headlines: Argentina recovering beef markets; IMF cuts growth forecast; Bomb damages courthouse in southern Chile.

• Monday, March 31st 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Kirchner leads with 21,2%.

  With just over three weeks for the coming Argentine presidential election next April 27, governor Néstor Kirchner leads in the polls with 21,2%, and for the first time since the campaign began a candidate managed to cross the psychological 20% threshold according to the latest Ipsos Mora y Araujo poll published last Sunday in La Nación.

• Monday, March 31st 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Lula appeals to Mercosur unity

  Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva sent a letter to the three partners of Mercosur, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, calling them to maintain unity, and convergence in trade negotiations. In exchange Brazil commits itself to eliminate trade barriers inside the block.

• Saturday, March 29th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  11,5 billion US dollars fled Argentina in 2002

  According to the Argentine Statistics and Census Office, Indec, last year 14,486 billion US dollars fled the country, a 246% increase over the 4,668 billion of 2001. The situation can be explained by the 12,097 billion US dollars the negative balance of the country's private non financial sector that amassed assets overseas estimated in 10,384 billion.

• Friday, March 28th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Argentina to return dollar deposits to account holders

  The Argentine government announced a plan Thursday for the gradual return of dollar-denominated bank deposits effectively frozen since the devaluation of the peso in January 2002.

• Thursday, March 27th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Lula: First strike under my administration is “legitimate”

  Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva regards as “legitimate” the first strike staged during his administration, which took office on Jan. 1, a presidential spokesman said Wednesday.