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

Argentina recovering beef markets

Argentina is rapidly recovering its level of beef exports, estimated in 350,000 tons per year, following the foot and mouth disease that left the country away from its traditional markets, indicated Mr. Luciano Miguens, president of the Argentine Rural Society during an agro business forum in Uruguay. "Sooner than expected we're recovering our pre-FAM activity level and have began to resume exports; of the 70 client countries we're already back in sixty of them", said the president of the most influential farmers association in Argentina. Argentina, together with Australia, United States, Brazil, European Union, Canada, New Zealand and Uruguay belongs to the exclusive club of main world beef exporters. Since FAM was first diagnosed, and officially recognized by Argentine authorities in 2000, farmers have been vaccinating "and will continue to do so. We have no intention of jumping again into an empty pool", said Mr. Miguens. The farmers' leader was referring to the official policy of three years ago when Argentina had been declared free of FAM and banned cattle vaccination in spite of an outbreak of the disease in the north of the country originated in smuggled herds from Paraguay. Mr. Miguens is currently participating in a regular congress of beef producing and exporting countries taking place in Punta del Este, Uruguay.

IMF cuts growth forecast

The International Monetary Fund will cut for a second time its global growth forecast for 2003. After an original estimate of 3,7% at the end of last year, it now stands at 3,3%, but according to European financial sources in Brussels the new IMF estimate will be closer to 3%. The negative impact comes mostly from the 12 Euro zone countries where IMF's growth prospects for 2003 will be reduced from 1,3 to 1,1%, given the latest news from France and Germany. "We believe the global growth prospect for 2003 when the IMF releases its official report on the State of the World Economy will be 3% or even less", stressed European sources. Originally IMF's Euro zone estimate was 2,3% and was later cut to 1,3%. The uncertainties over the Iraq conflict, oil prices and US consumer reaction to the war have also contributed to the downgraded outlook. The official IMF report is expected for April 9th.

Bomb damages courthouse in southern Chile

A bomb placed by unknown assailants damaged the courthouse in Temuca, Chile, police reported Saturday. Authorities said the blast destroyed a door and metal grillwork at the entrance to the building, located in downtown Temuca, 762 kilometers (473 miles) south of Santiago. The police searched the area and found another bomb, which did not explode, but found no leaflets or anything else indicating the motives behind the attack or the identity of those responsible. City officials speculated that the bombing might have been related to the celebration of the "Day of the Young Combatant," which commemorates the killings of young opponents of the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship on March 29, 1985. A few hours earlier, firebombs and pamphlets mentioning the "Day of the Young Combatant" were thrown in the vicinity of the Universidad de La Frontera in Temuco. Demonstrations have also been held in the area to protest the opening on Monday of the trials of several Mapuche Indian leaders and activists in the city of Angol, capital of the neighboring province of Malleco. The defendants are accused of taking part in attacks on farm and forest land in the Araucania region, the scene of several incidents over the past few years arising from the demands of the Mapuches, who are insisting on the return of their ancestral homeland. Late Wednesday night, a bomb exploded near a branch of Bank Boston, in the Ñuñoa section of Santiago, where literature criticizing the U.S.-led war on Iraq and urging people to remember the "Day of the Young Combatant" was found.