Mercosur

• Thursday, November 3rd 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Beware of uncooked shellfish

  Chile's Health minister Pedro García called on the population to abstain from consuming uncooked sea food because of the possible resurgence of the para-hemolytic vibrion which last year intoxicated 10,000 people.

• Thursday, November 3rd 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Heavy fuel spill out of control threatens marine life

  Chilean legislators have called upon the government to declare the coast in the northern city of Antofagasta a catastrophe area following the oil spill by a Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship which ran aground last Monday and apparently seems out of control.

• Wednesday, November 2nd 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Illegal fishing fleets and convenience flags plundering the seas

  Illegal fishing fleets are plundering the seas and endangering depleted fish stocks by taking advantage of international rules by which they can adopt “flags of convenience” from other countries to provide a cover for their activities.

• Wednesday, November 2nd 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Chavez forecasts Americas summit will “bury” FTAA

  Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez forecasted that the coming Americas Summit in Mar del Plata, Argentina will definitively “bury” the United States sponsored Free Trade of the Americas Association, FTAA.

• Wednesday, November 2nd 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Bush's Americas Summit agenda: democracy and trade

  President George W. Bush described United States relations with Latin America as “good” and said his administration's polity is to be “good neighbours and good friends” with the region stressing upon the shared values of democracy.

• Wednesday, November 2nd 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Insulza sees tough going for FTAA at summit

  OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza said in an interview published Wednesday that he believed it would be hard to make progress on the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) at the Summit of the Americas, which will be held later this week in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

• Wednesday, November 2nd 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Chavez challenges Bush to a FTAA debate

  Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez said in Caracas he is willing to debate, during the coming Americas Summit in Argentina, with US president George Bush on the merits of the Free Trade Area of the Americas, FTAA.

• Wednesday, November 2nd 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Bush admits FTAA “stalled”, but “priority” is Doha round

  United States president George W. Bush admitted that negotiations for a free trade zone embracing 34 countries of the hemisphere, Free Trade Area of the Americas, FTAA which was scheduled to begin functioning 2005/ 2006 are stalled.

• Tuesday, November 1st 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Telesur new Latin American TV station goes on air.

  A map of South America flashed on the screen and theme music played as live news broadcasts began Monday on a new Latin American TV station backed by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez as an alternative to large corporate media outlets.

• Tuesday, November 1st 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Montevideo, Bs. Aires calm river waters

  Argentina and Uruguay sought yesterday to calm a row that escalated at the weekend over Uruguay's decision to build two paper pulp factories on its side of the river dividing the two countries.