Mercosur

• Tuesday, December 23rd 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Aerolineas subsidiary in Chile files for bankruptcy protection

  Air Comet Chile, a unit of Spanish group Marsans, said on Monday it had filed for bankruptcy protection, less than one week after the Argentine Senate voted to expropriate Aerolineas Argentinas, also owned by Marsans.

• Monday, December 22nd 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Torres del Paine feeling global pinch and lack of promotion

  Chile's renowned Torres del Paine national park in Patagonia is also suffering the consequences of the global slowdown according to visitors numbers released by the regional Forestry and Parks Department, Conaf.

• Monday, December 22nd 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Paraguay denies arrival of Venezuelan illiteracy experts

  Paraguay does not need teachers from other countries to fight illiteracy in the country said on Monday the country's Education and Culture minister Horacio Galeano Perrone, during an interview with a local station in Asunción, the capital.

• Monday, December 22nd 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Argentina/Chile celebrate John Paul II 1978 peace efforts

  The governments of Argentina and Chile are celebrating on Monday almost simultaneously religious services in the Basilica of Lujan and in the Maipu national sanctuary, respectively, to honour the memory of Pope John Paul II and his peace efforts which thirty years ago prevented a full fledged war between the neighbouring countries.

• Sunday, December 21st 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Punta Arenas health officials warn of red tide threat

  Magallanes Region Public Health Department has set out a warning that red tide has been detected in several points of the area following lab tests of different molluscs and sea food.
  
  Magallanes in the extreme south of Chile is famous for its sea food which is supplied to the rest of the country.

• Sunday, December 21st 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Sarkozy to sign arms deal to help Brazil build nuclear sub

  

  French President Nicolas Sarkozy is expected to sign an arms deal during his visit to Brazil that could help this country build Latin America's first nuclear-propelled submarine, according to the government's official news agency Agencia Brazil.

• Sunday, December 21st 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Argentina Falklands claims' inventory adds two supports

  

  Argentina's Falklands/Malvinas sovereignty claim support inventory added two more statements this last week during the meeting of Latinamerican and Caribbean leaders in the northeast of Brazil.

• Saturday, December 20th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  HMS Endurance, while adrift was in serious risk of grounding

  

  Early Friday the stranded Royal Navy's Ice Patrol HMS Endurance with its 113 crew and a translator arrived in Punta Arenas pulled by two Chilean tugs. She has already been docked at the Asmar ship yard where Chilean and British engineers will immediately begin with emergency repairs.

• Thursday, December 18th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  HMS Endurance expected in Punta Arenas next Friday

  The Royal Navy Ice Patrol Ship HMS Endurance stranded at the western access of the Magellan Strait is being towed by a Chilean tug to Punta Arenas where she's scheduled to arrive next Friday, according to the latest reports from the Chilean Navy Third Naval Zone.

• Thursday, December 18th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Brazilian Congress puts Venezuela inches closer to Mercosur

  

  Brazil's Lower House approved the incorporation of Venezuela to Mercosur, but a further and tougher hurdle lies ahead: the Senate where several members have anticipated their disagreement, according to sources quoted by the Brasilia press.