Mercosur

• Tuesday, March 7th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Mexican record oil exports during January

  Mexico's government owned oil consortium Pemex reported record exports of crude, volume and value, during January. Exports totalled 3.18 billion US dollars compared to 1.39 billion in January 2005.

• Tuesday, March 7th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Foreign investment in Chile contracted during 2005

  Foreign investment in Chile declined drastically last year, amounting to half the 2004 level revealed officials from the Foreign Investment Committee in Santiago.

• Tuesday, March 7th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Buenos Aires Councillors oust mayor over nightclub tragedy

  Buenos Aires City Council fired Tuesday Mayor Anibal Ibarra for “poor performance of his duties”, a charge stemming from a December 2004 discotheque blaze that killed 193 and injured more than 700 people.

• Monday, March 6th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Mercosur Army commanders meet in Chile

  The Bolivian Army will be participating this week in a meeting of Mercosur Army Staff Commanders in Chile with the purpose of coordinating cooperation in peace operations and international humanitarian aid.

• Monday, March 6th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Released former Ecuadorian president vows return

  Former Ecuadorian president Lucio Gutierrez was released last week from prison in Quito where he had been held since last October on charges of endangering national security.

• Monday, March 6th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Arias confirmed as Costa Rica's elected president

  Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias was confirmed as Costa Rica's next president after his rival Otton Solis conceded defeat following a vote by vote manual recount of the closest and most contested election in the Central American country's history.

• Monday, March 6th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Bolivia's “re-founding” project firmly on track

  Bolivian Congress overwhelmingly passed a bill calling for a constitutional assembly and a regional autonomy referendum, two of President Evo Morales electoral promises on which the “new” Bolivia is to be “re-founded”.

• Monday, March 6th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Woman leads opinion polls in Peruvian election

  With just over a month for the Peruvian presidential election (April 9), the latest public opinion poll shows former Congress member Conservative Lourdes Flores leading with 25% vote intention followed by ultra nationalist Ollanta Humala five points behind.

• Monday, March 6th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Chile: Catches declined slightly, but exports increased

  Fish catches in Chile have dropped by 7 per cent last year in comparison with those of 2004, and are down from 5,404,501 tonnes to 5,018,298 tonnes, reported the National Fisheries Association (SONAPESCA), while exports increased by 19.1 per cent, earning USD 1,356 million in revenues between January and December 2005, vis-à-vis 1,138 million obtained in 2004.

• Monday, March 6th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Lula da Silva on state visit to UK

  Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva begins Tuesday a two days state visit to Great Britain where he plans to strongly lobby for an end to rich countries agriculture subsidies and support for the development of alternatives energies such as ethanol and biodiesel.