Mercosur

• Tuesday, August 22nd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Colombian rebels blame drug trade on US addicts

  Colombia's guerrilla closely linked to the narcotics trade said Monday that Bogotá's Washington-funded anti-drug strategy is faltering because the United States isn't doing enough to reduce consumption among its “32 million addicts”.

• Tuesday, August 22nd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Volkswagen threatens to close main plant in Brazil

  Volkswagen has warned it will close down its main factory in Brazil if an agreement is not reached with the unions on a restructuring plan which contemplates leaving 6.000 workers redundant.

• Tuesday, August 22nd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Radars and X ray equipment for Punta Arenas airport

  Punta Arenas airport is introducing two new radars and state of the art X ray equipment to check cargo and luggage, announced this week the head of Chile's most extreme south international air terminal Hector Jara Fernández.

• Tuesday, August 22nd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Argentine fisheries 2006 TAC for hake and hoki

  Argentina's Federal Fisheries Council (CPF), following on scientific recommendations, established total allowable catches (TAC) for common hake, hoki, Patagonian toothfish and southern blue whiting.

• Tuesday, August 22nd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  President Bachelet's approval rating eroding

  Chilean Socialist President Michelle Bachelet's approval rating has dropped 8 points since last May and now stands at 57% according to the latest public opinion review from Santiago's pollster CERC.

• Tuesday, August 22nd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Happy final for Mexican fishermen

  Three Mexican fishermen who claim they spent nine months adrift in the Pacific Ocean finally reached dry land when the fishing boat that rescued them arrived at a remote island chain thousands of miles from their homeland.

• Tuesday, August 22nd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Mercosur official says “FTAA is dead”

  A top Argentine trade official was quoted in Bs. Aires Tuesday as saying the Free Trade Area of the Americas, or FTAA, a hemispheric commerce initiative pushed by the Bush administration, “is dead.”

• Tuesday, August 22nd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Arrest of British terrorist suspects helps Bush

  United States president George W Bush popularity increased following the arrest in Britain of the suspects in the terror plot to blow up US-bound passenger planes according to a USA Today public opinion poll published Tuesday.

• Tuesday, August 22nd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Fed member does not rule out further rates hike

  The Federal Reserve “pause” in the series of rate hikes which was interrupted earlier this month has proved “constructive”, but further increases might be needed to tame inflationary tendencies admitted Tuesday Michael Moskow, president of Chicago's Fed branch.

• Tuesday, August 22nd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Uruguay planning to cancel IMF debt by 2010

  Uruguay will have cancelled all IMF debts by March 2010, when the current government's mandate comes to an end announced in Montevideo the country's Finance Minister Danilo Astori.