MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Regional News

Headlines:Uruguay protects whales; Patagonia art exhibition;
Weekend with two killings

Uruguay protects whales

Given the growing number of whales that are returning to Uruguayan oceanic waters to mate and reproduce, the Uruguayan government has imposed strict regulations to protect them from intruding and curious human beings. Regulations include severe fines and confiscation of vessels to ensure whales, and cetaceans in general, are not distracted, interrupted or scared while they are resting, playing or mating. All nautical sport activities are banned in the area and the closest whale watching vessels can approach them are 200 meters, at a steady sailing speed and for no longer than an hour. The maximum number of vessels at a time is three. If whales are calving or mating the distance is 500 meters and for half an hour. Feeding, playing, diving or nay human activity that perturbs the giant mammals is strictly forbidden. The Ministries of Tourism and Agriculture will be responsible for the awarding of a limited number of licences to whale watching vessels. Whales have been returning to Uruguayan oceanic waters, Maldonado and Rocha, in growing numbers and can be easily seen from the coast in late winter and early spring.

Patagonia art exhibition

Patagonia painters will be participating in an art exhibition at the end of October jointly organized by the regional Chilean and Argentine Education Departments. The Patagonia Bi-national Art Encounter is scheduled to take place in Punta Arenas during the last week of October and artists from the Argentine provinces of Neuquén, Río Negro, Chubut, Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego, and the Chilean regions of Aisén and Magallanes have been invited to participate. The art exhibition will have a special chapter for original paintings of Patagonia that have not participated in previous shows with prizes of 700, 500 and 250 US dollars for the three best works. This is the seventh consecutive year of the event that gathers the best painters of the extreme south of Argentina and Chile.

Weekend with two killings

Two deaths by stabbing in less than 48 hours have shocked Punta Arenas, one of them involving minors. In the first incident a Chilean Army Lieutenant was drinking in a night club where apparently on several occasions he unsuccessfully invited one of the young women working at the "Broncos" to accompany him. The officer's insistence and Paola's rejection with mutual recriminations, insults and aggressions, finally came to an end when the disenchanted Lieutenant poured beer over the lady's head and left the club. However, a furious Paola followed him and the discussion continued in the street where another habitué of the club, a coastal fisherman suddenly appeared from nowhere and stabbed the officer twice. "We're in a state of shock because Javier (the killer) was a very quiet, educated and respectful client of the house", said the lady who runs the night club. The second and more serious incident occurred 24 hours later, early Saturday dawn, close to mid town, when two minors, 15 and 17 years old, were caught red handed stealing from a stationed taxi by the owner, a retired Carabinero. The former policeman tried to catch one of them but both had knives and reacted stabbing him several times. On seeing the attack a neighbour immediately phoned the Carabineros and a few minutes later both minors had been arrested and Mr. Juvenal Godoy taken to the local hospital. However the following day Mr. Godoy died of heart insufficiency: one of the wounds had injured his left ventricle and a second pierced the right lung. Concerned Punta Arenas officials admitted they have been surprised by the increase in violent crime and promised an intensification of patrolling.