Mercosur

• Tuesday, July 8th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Magallanes: dispute over the origin of salmon disease

  Although it is now certain that at least one salmon farm in southern Chile's Magallanes (Region XII) has tested positive for Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA), what is not yet clear is how the debilitating disease made it to Chile's southernmost region.

• Sunday, July 6th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Uribe on the crest of the wave considering a third mandate

  

  An overwhelming majority of Colombians, 77%, support a second reelection of President Alvaro Uribe following the rescue of fifteen hostages last Wednesday including former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, according to a public opinion poll released by the top circulation magazine Semana.

• Friday, July 4th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  June inflation in Chile is the highest in 17 years: 1.5%

  Chile's Consumer Prices Index rose 1.5% in June accumulating 4.3% in the first half of the year according to the latest release from the country's Statistics Office. This is the highest June inflation since June 1991 (1.8%) and the highest monthly since October 1993 (2.6%).

• Thursday, July 3rd 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Benchmark sentence for high ranking Pinochet era officer

  A Chilean judge sentenced the former secret intelligence chief for General Augusto Pinochet to two life terms for the 1974 murder of Carlos Prat, former commander in chief of the Chilean Army, and his wife, Sofia Cuthbert. They were killed when a bomb placed under their car exploded as they returned home to their apartment in Buenos Aires.

• Wednesday, July 2nd 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Mercosur freezes the principle of sliding export taxes

  

  The principle of sliding export taxes, which applied to grains and oilseeds, triggered a 100-day conflict in Argentina between farmers and the administration of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner reached the current Mercosur summit in Tucuman and was rejected.

• Wednesday, July 2nd 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Mercosur summit calls EU migratory policy “xenophobic”

  

  South American leaders meeting at the Mercosur summit called the new European Union immigration policies that permit the detention of undocumented workers for up to 18 months “xenophobic” and said the measure may damage economic ties between the two regions.

• Wednesday, July 2nd 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Peruvian president tells Bolivia's Morales “to shut up”

  

  Peruvian President Alan Garcia said on Tuesday that he was sick and tired of Bolivian President Evo Morales criticizing Peru's trade pact with the United States, spreading false rumors about American military bases and urging Peruvians to protest in the street.

• Monday, June 30th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Bolivia's Evo Morales to nationalize main biggest airports

  

  Bolivia's leftist government is preparing a state takeover of the country's three biggest airports, currently run by a subsidiary of Spain's Abertis, a local newspaper reported last Friday.

• Monday, June 30th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Free transit among Mercosur countries without passport

  

  Associate member countries of the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) are to be granted free transit of citizens within the bloc, a right currently limited to full members, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry announced Wednesday.

• Monday, June 30th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Bolivia: Opposition gains 7 of 9 provinces in regional vote

  

  An indigenous opposition candidate was elected governor of Bolivia's Chuquisaca province on Sunday, exit polls showed, in the latest blow to the government of leftist President Evo Morales.