Mercosur

• Monday, February 6th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Venezuela: Chavez to arm reserves

  President Hugo Chavez says he will continue his country's arms build-up as well as tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats, taking his relations with Washington to their lowest ebb since he was first elected just over seven years ago.

• Monday, February 6th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  UN Deputy Secretary-General pledge sun support to consolidate progress in Latin America

  United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette today told officials concerned with Latin America that the world body will continue to provide assistance to the countries of the region as they consolidate progress.

• Monday, February 6th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  New bird flu outbreaks seen in poultry.

  The United Nations World Health Organization last Friday warned that it expects to see new outbreaks of the deadly bird flu virus in poultry this year but only sporadic cases in humans, although it repeated calls for countries to come up with strategies to deal with a possible pandemic.

• Monday, February 6th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Costa Rica: Election Still In Deadlock

  With only a few thousand votes separating the two frontrunners in Costa Rica's presidential election, authorities have announced a fresh manual recount of votes will be held, delaying the result for two weeks.

• Saturday, February 4th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Chilean 2005 beef imports totalled 142.245 tons

  Chilean beef imports reached 142.245 tons equivalent to 503 million US dollars in 2005, up 16.000 tons compared to the 126.224 tons of 2004, reports Santiago's Chamber of Commerce.

• Saturday, February 4th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  US/Uruguay free trade accord “not in the agenda”

  Uruguay's Foreign Affairs minister Reinaldo Gargano said Uruguay totally discards any possibility of a free trade agreement with United States which could endanger Mercosur.

• Friday, February 3rd 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Antarctic tragedy: Chilean Army officers prosecuted

  Two Chilean top military officers are facing prosecution on charges of manslaughter and falsifying reports after an investigation lead by a Punta Arenas military judge revealed severe negligence regarding an Antarctic accident when an officer and two servicemen were killed.

• Friday, February 3rd 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  IDB to address Latinamerica' “left turn”

  The Inter-American Development Bank, IDB, will address in the coming Annual General Assembly the “left turn” taking place in several Latinamerican countries, said Ernesto Stein chief economist of the bank in London.

• Thursday, February 2nd 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Costa Rica elects president and Legislative

  Costa Rica, Central America's small but most stable country in the region will be casting ballots next Sunday to elect president, two vice presidents, 57 members of the Legislative Assembly and 81 municipal authorities.

• Thursday, February 2nd 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Record-breaking profits for Shell

  One of the world's oil giants Royal Dutch Shell reported the highest profit in UK corporate history. The rapid rise in oil prices boosted Shell's surplus to 22.9 billion US dollars, almost 30% on last year when it set a UK record with profits of 17.59 billion US dollars.