Mercosur

• 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.

• Tuesday, September 5th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  President Lula leads “a republic of scoundrels”

  With less than a month to Election Day, Brazilian former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso accused the current leader, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of presiding over “a republic of scoundrels”.

• Tuesday, September 5th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Mexico: Calderon president-elect but opposition disavows

  Following weeks of challenges and fraud claims Mexico's Federal Electoral Tribunal proclaimed Tuesday Conservative Felipe Calderon as president-elect in the country's closest-ever election contest.

• Tuesday, September 5th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  IMF forecasts 5% global growth in 2006

  The world's economy is poised to expand 5% in 2006 but at the same time the risks of higher oil and commodities prices have advanced, warned International Monetary Fund Managing Director Rodrigo Rato.