Mercosur

• Wednesday, April 5th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Full professional Army for Chile in eight years

  Chile will have totally professional Armed Forces, eliminating conscription, in eight years time according to a plan unveiled by President Michelle Bachelet.

• Wednesday, April 5th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Five days waiting list to cross the Panama Canal

  The number of vessels waiting to cross the Panama Canal on Tuesday reached 103 causing considerable delays, --up to five days--, according to the administrative body of the inter-oceanic waterway

• Wednesday, April 5th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Bankers fearful of Latin America election year

  Presidential elections in seven Latin American countries this year have investors jittery over prospects that new leaders might undermine the region's economic gains, leading international bankers said Tuesday in Belo Horizonte.

• Wednesday, April 5th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  President's Summit sinks on move by Botnia

  Uruguay announced that a widely expected summit between its President and that of Argentina to seek a solution to a dispute over two Uruguayan factories under construction has been suspended once again after a company building one of the plants yesterday refused to halt works for a period demanded by Argentina to assess the environmental consequences,

• Wednesday, April 5th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Dramatic changes in Chileans attitudes to sexual behaviour

  The centre-right Future Foundation think tank revealed the results of a survey that documents dramatic change in attitudes towards sex and sexual behaviour in Chile.

• Wednesday, April 5th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  US and French oil companies pay Venezuela back taxes

  U.S. oil firm Chevron-Texaco and France's Total have accepted to pay the Venezuelan government some 113.5 million US dollars in back taxes, dating from the 2001/2004 period, announced Wednesday the Venezuelan tax office, SENIAT.

• Tuesday, April 4th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Energy firms rank at the top

  Skyrocketing energy prices propelled Exxon Mobil Corp. to the top of the 2006 Fortune 500 list, and consigned Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to the No. 2 spot on the magazine's annual ranking of the United States' largest publicly traded companies.

• Tuesday, April 4th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Regional navies meet in Argentina

  A four-day summit opened yesterday in the coastal city of Mar del Plata with the participation of naval forces from 19 countries of the Americas. These conferences have taken place periodically since 1959, and Argentina has the opportunity to host the event.

• Tuesday, April 4th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Colombia has the highest number of landmines victims

  More people have been killed or injured by land mines in Colombia last year than in any other country as rebels planted explosive devices to protect crops used to make cocaine, the Colombian government revealed Tuesday.

• Tuesday, April 4th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Humala's political advisor meets Chilean officials

  The political advisor to Peru's leading presidential candidate, Ollanta Humala, met secretly last Wednesday with Chile's future ambassador for Peru, Cristián Barros. The meeting was an attempt to consolidate bilateral links and prove Humala has no anti-Chile agenda.