Mercosur

• Thursday, March 2nd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Large deposits of natural gas in Chilean Tierra del Fuego

  Chilean president Ricardo Lagos confirmed Thursday that the government owned petroleum company ENAP, had discovered natural in Magallanes Region, more precisely in the Mercedes Lake, Tierra del Fuego.

• Thursday, March 2nd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Bachelet's first trip to Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil

  Chile's future president Michele Bachelet will be visiting Uruguay next March 24 following an official invitation from the government of Socialist Tabaré Vazquez, confirmed diplomatic sources in Montevideo.

• Thursday, March 2nd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Pulp mills dispute: Greenpeace blocks vessel in Chile

  Environmentalist group Greenpeace blocked Thursday a cargo vessel that was leaving the Chilean port of Talcahuano for Uruguay loaded with equipment for one of the controversial pulp mills to be built in the shore of a shared Argentine-Uruguayan river.

• Thursday, March 2nd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Mercosur junior partners' frustration with Brazil and Argentina

  The months' long dispute between Argentina and Uruguay over the construction of two pulp mills on the Uruguayan side of a river shared with Argentina has exposed the increasing disappointment of Mercosur junior partners with the overall functioning of the block dominated by Brazil and Argentina.

• Thursday, March 2nd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Euro rate increased 25 basis points to 2.5%

  European Central Bank decided Thursday to increase the key interest rates by 25 basis points to 2.5% reflecting the risks to price stability which have been identified.

• Wednesday, March 1st 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Brazil upgrade disappoints traders

  Brazil government debt prices eased slightly yesterday after a rating agency upgraded Brazil's credit but left its outlook stable, knocking investors' expectations of further upgrades in the near future.

• Wednesday, March 1st 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Unemployment drops a full percentage point

  Unemployment in Argentina fell to 10.1 percent in the fourth quarter of last year from 11.1 in the third quarter.

• Wednesday, March 1st 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Uruguay bans smoking in enclosed public places

  Uruguay has become the first country in South America and fifth in the world to ban smoking in enclosed public places.

• Wednesday, March 1st 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  UK calls for a refocusing of IMF

  The International Monetary Fund needs to refocus its goals in order to reflect the changing world economy, said British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown.

• Wednesday, March 1st 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  EU funds for de-mining operations in Magallanes

  The European Union awarded funds to Chile for mine-clearance operations in the extreme south of the country, announced Chile's Defence minister Jaime Ravinet during the launching of similar operations in the northeast of the country, next to the Argentine border and close to Bolivia.