Mercosur

• Friday, April 15th 2005 - 21:00 UTC

  US warns about “cloned” US dollar bills in S. America

  Special agents from the United States Secret Service arrived this week in Santiago to instruct Chilean banking and police authorities on US dollar bills security seals and other safeguards following a warning from the Federal Reserve about fake 50 and 100 US dollar bills circulating in South America.

• Friday, April 15th 2005 - 21:00 UTC

  More pressure on Argentina to include all bond holders

  The world's major financial references called on the Argentine government to reach an agreement with those bond holders who did not adhere to last February's restructuring and swap plan accepted by 76% of creditors.

• Friday, April 15th 2005 - 21:00 UTC

  Lan Chile closes deal with Argentine partners

  Lan Chile and its Argentine associates announced Thursday they closed the deal to purchase Aero 2000 after a whole month of negotiations.

• Friday, April 15th 2005 - 21:00 UTC

  Mercosur-EU “4+4” summit in the agenda

  Argentine president Nestor Kirchner and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder considered the possibility of calling a 4 + 4 summit (Germany, Spain, France and United Kingdom, plus Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Chile) to re-launch the stalled European Union-Mercosur trade negotiations.

• Friday, April 15th 2005 - 21:00 UTC

  Squid season north of 44º S begins April 21

  The Argentine Federal Fisheries Council (CFP) has requested the Under secretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture (SSP&A) to authorise squid (Illex argentinus) fishing north of parallel 44º S as of next April 20, 24:00 hours. The request is based on the fact that “conditions that prompted the early opening of the 2004 season north of 44º S remain unchanged”.

• Thursday, April 14th 2005 - 21:00 UTC

  Presidential “backtracking”.

  President Néstor Kirchner yesterday justified his decision to suspend a decree requiring telecommunication companies to monitor customers' calls and Web-surfing habits, saying that “he did not know when he signed it that it implied violation of privacy rights” protected by Argentina's Constitution.

• Thursday, April 14th 2005 - 21:00 UTC

  Killer flu frenzy

  Countries around the world were destroying vials of a pandemic flu strain yesterday which were sent to thousands of labs as part of a routine test kit, risking a global flu epidemic.

• Thursday, April 14th 2005 - 21:00 UTC

  Low-cost Windows reaches Brazil

  Microsoft Corp. launched a scaled-back version of its Windows operating system in Brazil yesterday, hoping to get more people using computers in Latin America's largest country while cutting down on rampant software piracy.

• Thursday, April 14th 2005 - 21:00 UTC

  Brazil Launches Book by Papal Candidate

  Brazil's cardinal, considered a strong contender for pope, harshly criticizes pro-market reforms and the globalization of the economy and urges solidarity with workers in a new book rushed into publication after the death John Paul II.

• Wednesday, April 13th 2005 - 21:00 UTC

  Venezuela support, “kiss of death” for Insulza

  Chile's Foreign Affairs Minister Ignacio Walker said Tuesday that two countries committed to vote for Chilean candidate Jose Miguel Insulza as the next Secretary General of the Organization of American States switched their support to Mexican Luis Ernesto Derbez.