Mercosur

• Tuesday, May 16th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Bush calls for troops to boost border patrol

  President Bush on Monday laid out a plan to shut off illegal immigration by dispatching up to 6,000 National Guard troops to the Mexican border.

• Tuesday, May 16th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Oil, metal prices tumble

  Oil fell under US$ 70 a barrel, gold dropped almost four percent and copper plunged yesterday as investors feared a rally that has taken many commodities to or near record highs may slow economic growth.

• Tuesday, May 16th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Chilean Central Bank leaves rate unchanged at 5%

  Chile's Central Bank left interest rates unchanged at 5% this month in the hope of slowing inflation. The action was widely foreseen by experts in the marketplace.

• Tuesday, May 16th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Vietnamese fishermen adrift rescued in Magellan Strait

  Two Vietnamese crewmembers found Monday floating adrift in the icy Magellan waters and currently in Punta Arenas hospital are Vietnamese who voluntarily jumped overboard from a Taiwanese vessel according to local Prosecution sources.

• Monday, May 15th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Latinamerica turning “left” to fight poverty

  Chilean president Michelle Bachelet said that the political “left turn” in Latinamerica can be seen as a “search for replies” from the region's peoples that are striving to abandon “misery and poverty”.

• Monday, May 15th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  New Haiti president takes office

  Rene Preval, the only elected president in Haiti's history to finish his term, was sworn in Sunday to again lead the impoverished nation in its latest attempt at democracy after decades of armed uprisings, lawlessness and foreign intervention.

• Monday, May 15th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Organized gang crime has Sao Paulo in chaos

  The street gang offensive against Brazilian police that has left scores dead continued early Monday with the overnight torching of at least 65 buses and 10 bank branches in Sao Paulo State.

• Monday, May 15th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Kirchner downplays pulp mills conflict with Uruguay

  Argentine president Nestor Kirchner downplayed the conflict with Uruguay arguing that the long established relations between the neighbouring countries go far beyond the “building or not” of the controversial pulp mills.

• Monday, May 15th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Santiago, Latam second best city for business

  According to The Economist business magazine, Sao Paulo, Brazil, has replaced Santiago de Chile as the best city to do business in Latin America.

• Monday, May 15th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Petrobras first quarter profit jumps 33%

  Brazilian state oil company Petrobras said its first-quarter net profit rose 33% over 2005 last quarter to 6.675 billion Reais, the equivalent of 3.1 billion US dollars, boosted by an increase in crude output, sales and fuel prices.