Chile's peso climbed to its strongest against the US dollar in more than five years after the government reported that exports of copper, the country's biggest export, surged in October and prices for the metal kept breaking records.
In spite of the Panama Canal rates increase last May, overall 2005 hasn't been such a bad year for the Chilean maritime freight companies.
If Chilean elections were held next Sunday the ruling coalition candidate Michelle Bachelet would be forced to a run off since she has a 39% support followed by the two conservatives Sebastian Piñera, 22% and Joaquín Lavín,20%, according to the latest opinion poll released in Santiago.
THE Tourist Board's new ?generic' brochure used to promote the Falklands overseas is now being distributed.
Although Polling Day for the Falkland Islands General Election 2005 is Thursday 17th November, many of the more remote electors have already cast their vote and mobile polling teams continue to travel the Islands by land and air to ensure that anyone who wants to, will have the opportunity to exercise their democratic right this week.
Canadian Huguette Labelle, former president of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and current Chancellor of the University of Ottawa, is the new head of Transparency International (TI), the Berlin-based research and advocacy body devoted to fighting global corruption.
The current prices of copper have eluded all forecasts and 2005 will be remembered in Chile as the copper year.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva blamed the stalemate in World Trade Organization, WTO, talks on pressure from France's influential farmers.