Mercosur

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

  Chavez promises of accessible gas to smaller neighbours

  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will be the key speaker Wednesday in Asuncion, Paraguay when introducing a plan to lay a large transcontinental gas pipeline to the benefit of Paraguay, Bolivia and Uruguay.

• Monday, April 17th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Chile to tighten ties with Bolivia and Peru

  Chile is prepared to restore diplomatic relations with Bolivia and sign a free trade accord with Peru regardless of who wins that country's presidential election, the foreign minister said in comments published yesterday.

• Monday, April 17th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Mad-cow disease confirmed in Canada

  The Canadian government said Sunday that it has confirmed a case of mad-cow disease in a cow in British Columbia.

• Monday, April 17th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Pope Benedict offers first Easter view

  In his first Easter message as pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI urged countries yesterday to use diplomacy to defuse nuclear crises, apparently alluding to Iran.

• Monday, April 17th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  U.S. shareholders criticize Goldman Sachs for Park deal in Chile

  Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson has come under fire from irate shareholders who say he is using company assets to further his own personal environmental goals in Chile.

• Monday, April 17th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  First environmental alert of year issued in Chilean capital

  Santiago is under its first environmental alert of the year Monday in an effort to reduce air pollution and protect the health of the Chilean capital's nearly 6 million residents.

• Monday, April 17th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  China, Brazil and Argentina seeking soy axis

  China, Brazil and Argentina are mulling the creation of a multinational market for soybeans as an alternative to the Chicago Board of Trade.

• Sunday, April 16th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Chile: Trade Agreements Increased Commerce

  Free trade agreements with the United States, Mexico and Canada boosted Chile's commerce and exports to North American markets last year, the Chilean government announced Saturday.

• Sunday, April 16th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Peru: Humala still waits for run-off opponent

  An already thin margin of votes narrowed further between a center-left former president and pro-business former congresswoman to fewer than 110,000 ballots yesterday, as Peruvians waited to see who will face nationalist Ollanta Humala in a presidential runoff.

• Sunday, April 16th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Argentina: Record squid exports from Rio Gallegos

  The fishing town of Puerto Deseado, a fishing village located 790 kilometres north of Río Gallegos, this year exported 42,000 tons of squid, which officials qualified as a “historic record” for the area.