Mercosur

• Thursday, March 17th 2005 - 21:00 UTC

  Southern Winds declares bankruptcy.

  Argentine airline Southern Winds yesterday filed for bankruptcy protection with Commercial Court 15, according to the court's Web site.

• Wednesday, March 16th 2005 - 21:00 UTC

  IMF demands from Argentina respect for investors.

  The International Monetary Fund Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato demanded from Argentina respect for foreign investment following President Nestor Kirchner's national boycott proposal against oil corporation Shell.

• Wednesday, March 16th 2005 - 21:00 UTC

  New elections proposed to solve Bolivian crisis

  Bolivian President Carlos Mesa in a dramatic appeal on national television Tuesday night announced he would propose Congress advancing elections as the only possible mechanism to put an end to the ongoing social-political crisis that threatens to engulf the country in a blood bath.

• Wednesday, March 16th 2005 - 21:00 UTC

  Steep growth of foreign investment

  Foreign investments grew a steep 44 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2004, reaching a record $56.4 billion, a United Nations agency reported yesterday.

• Wednesday, March 16th 2005 - 21:00 UTC

  EU's Mandelson hopes Mercosur talks to resume in May.

  The European Union hopes to resume stalled talks that aim at setting up a free trade agreement with South American trade bloc Mercosur by May at the latest, EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said yesterday.

• Wednesday, March 16th 2005 - 21:00 UTC

  WTO leadership candidate makes case to EU

  Uruguay's Carlos Pérez del Castillo urged European Union legislators yesterday to back him for the job of director general of the World Trade Organization, saying the post should go to a person from a developing country.

• Wednesday, March 16th 2005 - 21:00 UTC

  Spain's Marsans might sell Argentine airline

  Spanish travel group Marsans is seeking partners to invest in its Aerolíneas Argentinas unit, and would even consider selling it entirely if the price were right, a source close to the company said yesterday.

• Tuesday, March 15th 2005 - 21:00 UTC

  Saudis and Iran disagree over oil production.

  Saudi Arabia Oil Minister Ali el Noeimi said that international crude is calling on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, to increase its current supply of 27 million barrels per day by “another half million barrels”.

• Tuesday, March 15th 2005 - 21:00 UTC

  Shell sales in Argentina collapse 70%

  Sales of Shell in Argentina dropped 70% since last Thursday when President Nestor Kirchner called on consumers to boycott the oil company for having increased the price of fuels 4,2%, said Carlos Calabró, president of the Argentine Federation of Fuel Businessmen.

• Tuesday, March 15th 2005 - 21:00 UTC

  Bankrupt Pinochet nephew offering kidney on sale

  A nephew of former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet is offering on sale one of his kidneys in a last ditch effort to survive from bankruptcy, reports this week the Santiago press