Mercosur

• Thursday, September 7th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Lowest annualized inflation since 1998 in Brazil

  Brazilian consumer prices rose only 0.05% in August after a 0.19% increase in July, according to government figures released Thursday, surprising market experts and even Brazil's government.

• Thursday, September 7th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Chavez gets a taste of his won medicine

  Manuel Rosales, the main opposition candidate in Venezuela's December's election claimed Thursday that President Hugo Chavez, running for re-election, has ordered his assassination.

• Thursday, September 7th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  No end to the Uruguay/Argentina pulp mills controversy

  The Arbitration Tribunal of Mercosur partially accepted Uruguay's demand and ruled that Argentina did not take necessary action to guarantee free circulation of goods and services into Uruguay as contemplated in the block's charter.

• Wednesday, September 6th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Energy short Chile heatedly ponders the nuclear option

  Chilean President Michelle Bachelet will stand firm on her pledge against the use of nuclear energy, government spokesperson Ricardo Lagos Weber said this week.

• Wednesday, September 6th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Unexpected bumpy performance of economy

  Chile's Consumer Price Index increased 0.3% in August, with inflation in the last twelve months reaching 3.8% and in the first eight months of this year 2.9%, in line with the government's targets, according to the latest release from the country's National Statistics Institute, INE.

• Wednesday, September 6th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  China and India trample over growth forecasts

  The Chinese and Indian economies are likely to grow even faster than previously thought this year, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

• Wednesday, September 6th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Kirchner/Bachelet summit to appease relations

  Argentine and Chilean presidents are scheduled to meet next Tuesday in the Argentine province of Mendoza for the opening of the bidding process for the construction of a 200 kilometres trans-Andean railway which will link the neighbouring countries across the shared mountain range.

• Wednesday, September 6th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Uruguay's Vazquez has courting appointment with Lula da Silva

  Uruguay and Brazil's presidents will be meeting Friday most probably in Porto Alegre, Brazil to discuss Uruguay's intention of signing a free trade agreement with United States, according to Uruguayan diplomatic sources.

• Wednesday, September 6th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Less Foreign Direct Investment forecasted for 2007

  In a global context of weaker foreign direct investment, FDI, in emerging markets because of “structural weaknesses”, Latinamerica is also set to suffer, according to a report from the University of Columbia in New York and The Economist group.

• Wednesday, September 6th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Oil prices fall to five-month low

  Oil prices fell to a five-month low yesterday, dipping below US$68 a barrel amid easing gasoline demand at the end of summer and growing doubts among some traders that Iran will pull supplies off the market.