Mercosur

• Sunday, November 5th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Mercosur and EU willing to compromise on trade

  Mercosur and European Union delegates begin Monday a two days meeting in Rio do Janeiro with the purpose of re-launching negotiations for a free trade agreement.

• Sunday, November 5th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Royal “impeller” for the pulp mills dispute

  King of Spain Juan Carlos will act as a “facilitator” or “impeller”, according to the version, in an attempt to bring together the positions of Uruguay and Argentina divided over the construction of paper mills and pickets blocking bridges between the neighboring countries.

• Saturday, November 4th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Spanish prime minister wants to broker Buenos Aires-Montevideo truce in pulp mill dispute

  Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero wishes to use the Ibero-American Summit that opened yesterday in Montevideo to broker a truce between Argentina and Uruguay in their ongoing rift over Uruguayan paper pulp mills.

• Saturday, November 4th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Annan praises Iberoamerican leaders for focus on illegal immigration

  UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan yesterday praised leaders at the 16th annual Ibero-American Summit for resolving to make progress on growing illegal immigration in an increasingly mobile world community.

• Friday, November 3rd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Migration is proving controversial for the Summit

  The plight of millions of Latinamerican migrants looking for better living conditions in the United States or in the European Union will be the main issue of the 16th Iberoamerican summit which officially opens this afternoon in Montevideo.

• Friday, November 3rd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  IMF praises Latinamerica and warns vulnerabilities

  Latin America and the Caribbean are forecasted to expand 4.3% next year following this year's 4.8% and 4.4% in 2005, according to the latest review from the International Monetary Fund, IMF, released this week.

• Friday, November 3rd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  China rises bank reserves to cool economy

  China's central bank announced Friday it was raising the bank reserve requirement for the third time this year to soak up excess liquidity in the banking system as the nation's trade surplus mounts.

• Friday, November 3rd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Autonomy for Dutch Caribbean territories

  The Netherlands has signed an agreement granting autonomy to the Caribbean territories of Curacao and St Maarten.

• Friday, November 3rd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Lan Argentina begins flights to Ushuaia

  Lan Chile's affiliate Lan Argentina, announced Friday in Mar del Plata the beginning of flights to Patagonia and Brazil as part of its regional expansion policy.

• Friday, November 3rd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Pulp mills conflict in Summit's unofficial agenda

  Argentine pickets took to the roads Friday and blocked bridges leading to Uruguay to protest the building of pulp mills.