Mercosur

• Monday, November 27th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Kirchner and cattle farmers on collision course

  Argentina is planning to limit beef exports by 30% and to make cattle's slaughtering weight more flexible in an attempt to increase domestic supply, according to press reports in Buenos Aires.

• Monday, November 27th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Mexican Congress sent “frustrating” image to the world

  Brazil could be forced to abandon its comfortable neutrality and help finding a negotiated solution to the Argentine/Uruguay dispute over the pulp mills, if its regional leadership role is not be eroded, argues Monday the Sao Paulo financial daily Valor.

• Monday, November 27th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Iberia ready for the Madrid/Gibraltar round trip

  Spanish airline Iberia carried out landing and take off tests in the Gibraltar airport runway over the weekend in anticipation of the first formal flight scheduled for next December 16.

• Monday, November 27th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Uruguay: more sheep and fewer cattle

  Heading for a record year of beef exports, over a billion US dollars, Uruguay's cattle herd is experiencing the impact of the efforts and it's doubtful it can sustain in the coming years such a level of production.

• Sunday, November 26th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Pinochet “I assume the political responsibility ”

  Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet celebrated his 91st birthday yesterday with a mea culpa, taking “political responsibility” for acts committed following his 1973 military coup.

• Sunday, November 26th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Huge rally for Chávez opponent

  Hundreds of thousands of people marched in Caracas yesterday to back opposition presidential candidate Manuel Rosales as he closed his campaign against President Hugo Chávez, who is favoured to win the December 3 vote.

• Sunday, November 26th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Populist leader leading in Ecuador's presidential run-off

  Nationalist-populist leader Rafael Correa seems to have emerged as the winner in Ecuador's Sunday presidential run-off according to private surveys, in what has been interpreted as a clear signal of electorate disenchantment with traditional politics.

• Saturday, November 25th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Euro soars to its highest against the US dollar

  The Euro soared to its highest level against the US dollar since April 2005 amid concerns for the deceleration of the US economy and a significant slowdown in the housing market.

• Saturday, November 25th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Argentina invests 1.6 billion in two power plants

  Siemens Power Generation, a unit of Siemens AG (SI) said Friday it has been awarded major contracts from Argentina for the turnkey construction of two combined cycle power plants.

• Saturday, November 25th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Chile resumes as associate member of CAN

  The Community of Andean Nations Foreign Affairs ministers' council extended Friday the category of associate member to Chile.