Mercosur

• Friday, March 25th 2005 - 21:00 UTC

  Inflation fears in United States

  United States consumer price index jumped 0,4% last February over January, the highest surge since October, while the basic index, excluding food and energy, increased 0,3%.

• Friday, March 25th 2005 - 21:00 UTC

  Portman, new US Trade Representative

  US president George Bush named Republican Congressman Rob Portman Foreign Trade Representative because he's the “appropriate man” to push forward with the country's trade agenda.

• Friday, March 25th 2005 - 21:00 UTC

  Cuban crackdown on “anti-social” dissidents

  Cuban authorities announced Wednesday a campaign by the Committees for the Defence of the Revolution (CDR), considered the “eyes and ears” of the Communist regime, against dissidents and others officially labelled “anti-social elements”.

• Friday, March 25th 2005 - 21:00 UTC

  With gas, Bolivia hopes to regain sea access

  President Carlos Mesa said Bolivia is prepared to sell natural gas to Chile as long as its neighbour agrees to give this landlocked nation access to the Pacific Ocean, a Bolivian goal ever since it lost its coastline to Chile in a 19th century war.

• Thursday, March 24th 2005 - 21:00 UTC

  Nafta leaders show unity but problems persist.

  President George Bush signed Wednesday a pact with the leaders of neighbouring Mexico and Canada aimed at boosting security and economic ties.

• Thursday, March 24th 2005 - 21:00 UTC

  Venezuela splits up landed estates.

  Venezuela has declared a huge British-owned cattle ranch to be state property and handed out permits for local farmers to take over the land.

• Thursday, March 24th 2005 - 21:00 UTC

  Rumsfeld praises Lula and warns Venezuela.

  U. S. stepped up its pressure against Venezuela's weapons procurement programme warning that it threatened to destabilize the region. Secretary of Defence D. Rumsfeld's comments during a visit to Brazil, were the strongest indicator yet of growing concern in Washington about the planned acquisition of large quantities of firearms from Russia by President Hugo Chávez's populist government in Venezuela.

• Thursday, March 24th 2005 - 21:00 UTC

  The other side of Chile's success story.

  Chile is a South American economic success story which keeps coming up with impressive macroeconomic figures including the 6,1% growth in 2004, but the bonanza and its 94 billion US dollars GDP still have some way to go before a significant reduction in social inequality and be perceived.

• Thursday, March 24th 2005 - 21:00 UTC

  Food basket: Punta Arenas 34% dearer than Santiago

  The basic family food basket in Punta Arenas was last year among the three dearest in Chile, 34,5% above Santiago, according to a paper from the Economic and Financial Investigations Institute from the Andrés Bello University, based on information from the Chilean Statistics Institute.

• Thursday, March 24th 2005 - 21:00 UTC

  Embattled Peruvian president opens new front

  Given the growing political tension with Peru, because of the alleged weapons sales to Ecuador during the “Condor war” in the nineties, the Chilean government decided Wednesday to temporarily freeze military contacts between both countries.