MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Breaking News from South America.

Recession hits US.

The slowing down of the United States economy that began over a year ago turned into a 0,4% contraction in the third quarter ended last September.It's the steepest drop since United States last recession in 1991, according to the US Department of Commerce. The poor showing of the US economy reflects the greatest contraction in consumer spending in eight years and a consistent decrease in company investments.Traditionally, two GDP consecutive contracting quarters is considered a recession, but US Economic Data Research Office takes into account other negative indicators before officially declaring it a recession. Most analysts believe the United States was already suffering a recession before the September 11 attacks, and are looking ahead to a further retraction in the last quarter, when the full impact of terrorist actions and consumer fears are recorded. US president Bush has repeatedly appealed consumers for a return to normal life, but warnings of possible further terrorist attacks have left consumers at home.However with the 75 billion US dollars package to stimulate the economy, currently under consideration in Congress, and the lowest interest rates in half a century, a strong rebound of the economy is expected in the coming months. Furthermore, analysts anticipate the Federal Reserve will decide a further drop in interest rates next November 6th.

Visa exemption program review

A US government delegation will be visiting Uruguay next week to review the current visa exemption program, VEP, that besides Uruguay includes another 28 countries among which Germany, Argentina, Australia, Denmark, France, Holland, Ireland, New Zeland, Norway, Sweden and United Kingdom.US Embassy authorities in Montevideo said this is a periodic review involving the State Department, Justice Department and the Immigration and Naturalization Office. Uruguayan visitors are exempt from requiring US visas since 1999 and can remain in the country for 90 days either for business or pleasure.Countries to qualify for the United States VEP need to have effective border controls, legal cooperation, reciprocity for US citizens, low percentage of visa rejects and electronic pass