MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Breaking News form the area.

Headlines:
Five stars Sheraton for Ushuaia; Sky airline for competition and “reciprocity”; Unemployment in Magallanes, 8,5%.; Punta Arenas celebrates Chilean Antarctica Day; Argentina opens cinema in Antarctica.

Five stars Sheraton for Ushuaia

Ushuaia in Argentine Tierra del Fuego, the world's most austral city and closest to the Antarctic continent will have a five stars hotel. Sheraton's representative for South America Ricardo Lifsic visited the city with the project which received the support of local authorities and city Councillors of the three main political forces, reports the local press. The new five stars hotel with 140 rooms will demand an investment of 12 million US dollars and generate 150 jobs. Pending an environmental impact survey the Sheraton will be built close to the Martial glacier close to another first class hotel "Glaciar".

Sky airline for competition and "reciprocity"

Sky Airlines which has an option for regular flights to Punta Arenas said before a Chilean Congressional committee hearing that it does not object to Aerolíneas del Sur (Aerolineas Argentinas under Spanish ownership) operating in the Chilean market as long as this means fair competition and "reciprocity". Addressing the Deputies Transport Committee Sky Airlines CEO Sergio Briceño said the company does not object to other airlines coming into Chile "as long as they do so in the same conditions that anybody can do it in the rest of the world, unless they are subsidized or there is no reciprocity". Mr. Briceño recalled that Chile has an open skies policy and if the incoming airline is Argentine, Argentina must offer the same conditions to Chilean airlines. Deputy Zarko Luksic president of the Transport Committee and elected representative from Magallanes region revealed that Sky Airlines offered no beginning date for commercial flights to Punta Arenas and regarding Aerolíneas del Sur "we would like to see her operating in early December when the full season begins". Mr. Luksic said last week he met with Chilean Foreign Affairs Minister Ignacio Walker and requested his interest in making the extreme areas of the country air market "more competitive" by helping "streamline the red tape" new companies' requests must face.

Punta Arenas celebrates Chilean Antarctica Day

Chilean authorities, academia and private institutions joined the Chilean Antarctic Institute in the celebration last Saturday in Punta Arenas of "Chilean Antarctica Day". November 6, 1940 the Chilean government signed decree 1.747 establishing the limits of the country's "Antarctic territory", the area between meridians 53 and 90 with the South Pole as vertex, covering approximately 1,250,000 square kilometres. During the main ceremony Jose Retamales the Chilean Antarctic Institute president, highlighted the "sovereignty and scientific research" commitments displayed by Chile during decades and the promising challenges ahead. Mr. Retamales also underlined the coming expeditions to the South Pole and scientific research in the Ellsworth Mountains, a joint project of the Antarctic Institute, several universities and Chilean Armed Forces. "The significance of Antarctica and the coming expeditions was stressed none less that by President Ricardo Lagos who came to see them off", said Mr. Retamales who also mentioned Antarctica XXI, the Chilean travel company that is organizing air and sea cruises to the southern ocean and continent. Mr. Retamales also revealed that the air and infrastructure capability of the Eduardo Frei Base landing strip in Antarctica was to be increased to allow several aircrafts to operate simultaneously. An exhibition open to all public and dedicated to Antarctica and Chile's interests in the continent was opened in the Zona Franca of Punta Areans last Saturday. Sponsors of the show include Magallanes University, Armed Forces, Scientific Institute, Antarctica XXI and Aerovías DAP.

Argentina opens cinema in Antarctica.

Argentina will be opening next February a cinema hall in Antarctica, the first ever in this continent, was reported this week in Buenos Aires. The Argentine Cinema and Audiovisual Arts Institute together with the Foreign Affairs Ministry will be sponsoring the project that is scheduled to begin next February in the Argentine base of Jubany in King George island. The hall will have fifty seats, with a small reception, washroom and dressing room. "We picked that base since in the island 25 de Mayo there is permanent staff and scientists from Brazil, Chile, China, South Korea, Poland, Russia and Uruguay", said the Argentine Cinema Institute in a release. The agreement was signed by Jorge Coscia from the Cinema Institute and Minister Rafael Bielsa since the Argentine Antarctic Office depends from the Foreign Affairs Ministry.