Mercosur

• Thursday, May 4th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Vazquez closer to the US meets President Bush

  Uruguayan president Tabare Vazquez gave further signals Wednesday in Washington of his willingness to have closer links with United States.

• Thursday, May 4th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Chile President M. Bachelet travel to Easter Islands.

  President Michelle Bachelet travels to Easter Island (Rapa Nui) today, Thursday, to inaugurate “Month of the Sea” celebrations on Chile's Pacific Ocean territory. Traveling with the President are Defense Minister Vivianne Blanlot and Interior Minister Andrés Zaldívar.

• Thursday, May 4th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Spanish vessel owner facing 35-year jail term in US

  A Spanish fishing vessel owner charged with illegally importing over 26,000 kilos of Chilean sea-bass or Patagonian toothfish pleaded not guilty Thursday in his first appearance in a United States Florida court.

• Thursday, May 4th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Former crew members revisit Penelope

  A group of former Argentine Navy crew members of the auxiliary ketch Penelope during the 1982 South Atlantic war were able to visit their old ship as it stopped over in Buenos Aires en route from the Falkland Islands to Germany after 70 years in South Atlantic waters.

• Wednesday, May 3rd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Cuba: “world's second largest prison for journalists”

  Cuba remained in 2005 the Latin American country where reporters are most exposed to government violence and holds the deplorable honour of being “the world's second-largest prison for journalists” behind China according to Reporters Without Borders, RSF, 167 country annual index.

• Wednesday, May 3rd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Bolivia's energy move: urgent regional summit

  An urgent regional presidential summit has been called for next Thursday to be held in northern Argentina following Bolivia's Monday decision to take over the country's energy industry.

• Wednesday, May 3rd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Spain warns Bolivia about “bilateral relations”

  The Spanish government said Tuesday it was “deeply concerned” with the nationalization of Bolivia's energy industry and warned that the move would have “consequences for bilateral relations”.

• Wednesday, May 3rd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Brazilian bank takes over regional BankBoston

  Bank of America Corporation, the second largest United States bank announced Tuesday it had agreed to exchange its BankBoston operation in Brazil for 2.2 billion US dollars in shares from Brazil's second strongest private financial institution, Banco Itaú.

• Wednesday, May 3rd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Fears about Bolivia's energy supplier “reliability”

  Brazil's all powerful industrial lobby doubts that Bolivia will remain a reliable supplier of natural gas in the wake of the country's decision to nationalize hydrocarbons' resources.

• Wednesday, May 3rd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Latinamerica needs to create 126 million jobs

  Facing an employment deficit of 126 million jobs in the coming decade, Latin America must not only increase its business competitiveness, but also move towards more “employment-rich” growth of the economy, the head of the United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO) said Wednesday.