MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

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Headlines: Giant iceberg spotted off Argentine coast, bound for Brazil; Richard Gere in Punta Arenas; Punta Arenas in the red; Postal strife

Giant iceberg spotted off Argentine coast, bound for Brazil

An iceberg measuring some 700 meters (2,275 feet) in diameter was spotted Wednesday in the southern Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of the Argentine resort city of Mar del Plata, official sources reported . The giant iceberg was spotted by a Uruguayan fishing trawler 240 kilometers (150 miles) off the coast of Mar del Plata, and the captain immediately notified the Argentine coast guard. The iceberg, which broke off the Antarctic ice mass, was drifting northeast at a speed of 1.7 kilometers (1 mile) an hour. Because of the hazard which the iceberg poses to navigation, the coast guard alerted boats sailing in the southwestern Atlantic. Coast guard spokesmen told the media that although the iceberg was melting as it drifted north, it was likely that it would make it to the southern Brazilian coast in the next few days.

Richard Gere in Punta Arenas

Unexpectedly Hollywood star Richard Gere arrived this Wednesday to Punta Arenas with plans to visit Chilean Patagonia together with his latest wife Kary Lowell, according to the Chilean press. The 52 year old actor is planning to tour Torres del Paine Park and sail through the Magellan Strait. Gere who converted to the Buddhist religion married in the first week of November in a simple private ceremony and his incursion to southern Chile can be considered the official honey moon. Gere became famous with films such as "Pretty woman", the most recent "Infidelity", "Mr. Jones", "Sommersby", "American Gigolo", "Strike Force". Previously until 1995 the actor was married to the renowned model Cindy Crawford.

. Punta Arenas in the red

Chile's General Accountancy Office, GAO, that monitors and keeps track of the country's national and regional budgets and other expenditures has formally began an administrative investigation of Magallanes Region finances, particularly the Regional Development Fund that receives ample assistance from the Central government. Repeated claims of money shortages, a growing deficit and delays in paying Magallanes contractors attracted the attention of the GAO that unexpectedly this week formalized an administrative investigation with an attorney taking over the Control and Analysis Division. "At this stage we believe there is sufficient merit to proceed with the investigation", said GAO Comptroller Manuel Cerda adding that "we're looking into possible administrative responsibilities regarding the finances of the Regional Development Fund". Magallanes Mayor Raúl Hein who was just back from Santiago immediately met with his cabinet and declared that "it was the GAO job to check into irregularities with public funds". However Mr. Hein pointed out that an internal investigation had already taken place under his initiative, but anyway "his office will collaborate in all aspects required by GAO officials". The GAO investigation also follows the resignation of two top level officials of the Hein administration, the Director of the Control and Analysis Division and the head of the Administration and Finance Division.

Postal strike

Postal workers in Santiago and most of the country, including Punta Arenas, have began industrial actions to protest against the company's redundancy plan involving 1,600 employees. In Santiago 300 workers locked themselves inside the Postal Technological Center, CTP, the computerized brain of the postal service, claiming that the company is pressing many employees to accept voluntary redundancy, threatening "to proceed to forced selective redundancy" unless the 1,600 target is reached. In Punta Arenas local offices stoppage only lasted half an hour but with noisy protests and the promise that actions will increase. "This is just a brief sample of what can be expected", said the Postal Workers Union delegate Sofía Pérez. "Protests will increase in intensity as well as stoppage; the company is simply sacking 1,600 workers when they should be targeting the huge payments and bonus of the managers and CEO", added Ms. Pérez. Industrial action so far involves 800 postal workers and 300 regional agencies distributed along the country.