Mercosur

• Wednesday, April 19th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  The US Navy is “not going to intimidate us”

  Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said Wednesday that the United States military exercises in the Caribbean “are not going to intimidate us”.

• Wednesday, April 19th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Mercosur is “not useful” for Uruguay's objectives

  Uruguayan president Tabare Vazquez said that Mercosur is “not useful” to his country's aspirations and proposed deep changes in the functioning of the South American block which also includes Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.

• Tuesday, April 18th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Gold, oil up, yet rate fears weigh

  Gold hit a fresh 25-year high on Tuesday as oil neared a record, pushing shares of Asian commodity firms like BHP higher, but broader stock gains were checked by fears that high oil prices would hurt economic growth.

• Tuesday, April 18th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Common hake landings pegged at more than 75,000 tonnes

  Up to the first week of April, 75,218 tonnes of common hake (Merluccius hubbsi) were landed at Argentine maritime ports.

• Tuesday, April 18th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Venezuela took back 27,000 sq. km from oil companies

  Venezuela reclaimed more than 27,000 square kilometers in potential drilling acreage from private oil companies last month by requiring them to join new state-controlled joint ventures, a local daily reported yesterday.

• Tuesday, April 18th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Brazil's landless peasants recall massacre

  Brazil's Landless Movement, MST, marked this week the tenth anniversary of the deaths of a score of its members at police hands by occupying ranches, blocking roads and looting cargo trucks in protests that extended across the country.

• Tuesday, April 18th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  China will help boost Brazil's gas distribution

  Brazil's government owned company Petrobras and China's oil company Sinopec Group announced a 239 million US dollars contract to build a pipeline to increase natural gas supplies in the northeast of Brazil and reduce Brazilian dependence on gas from Bolivia

• Tuesday, April 18th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Simple majority for Humala in next Peruvian Congress

  The leading Peruvian presidential candidate Ollanta Humala who garnered 30% of the vote in the first round will also have the largest number of seats in the next Congress, 43 out of 120, according to the latest figures from the Electoral Office.

• Tuesday, April 18th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Bachelet confirms natural gas deposit in Tierra del Fuego

  Chilean president Michelle Bachelet confirmed Tuesday in Santiago the existence of natural gas in Lake Mercedes, Tierra del Fuego. A vital resource for energy short Chile and the huge methanol complex in Punta Arenas.

• Tuesday, April 18th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  “Dramatic” situation for Chilean salmon and fruit exporters

  The US dollar dropped to its lowest so far this year in the Chilean money market reaching 509 pesos from Monday's 511 pesos.