Mercosur

• Thursday, January 20th 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  EU promises not to let down Latinamerica.

  European Commission president Jose Manuel Durao Barroso promised Thursday to step up the bloc's trans-Atlantic efforts because “it is important that Europe does not disappoint our friends in Latin America”.

• Thursday, January 20th 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Bush pledged to spread liberty around the world.

  George W. Bush pledged on Thursday to use United States' power to spread liberty around the world, supporting “the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny”.

• Wednesday, January 19th 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Airbus A 380 a “European success story”.

  European government leaders on Tuesday used the ceremonial unveiling of the Airbus A380 superjumbo to issue a rallying call for deeper European integration and industrial co-operation.

• Wednesday, January 19th 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Kirchner to talk utilities in France.

  President Néstor Kirchner and most of his Cabinet start today on a four-day official visit to France, where he is to meet with French President Jacques Chirac and local businessmen with interests in Argentina's utility sector.

• Wednesday, January 19th 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Germans, Italians say Argentines offering bum deal.

  German holders of bad Argentine bonds are having none of the South American nation's push to exchange them for new ones, asking why they should trade old funny money for what they suspect will turn out to be more of the same.

• Tuesday, January 18th 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Colombia-Venezuela dispute spirals

  Far from apologizing as has been demanded by Venezuela, Colombia says it is the “offended one” in the case of a key Colombian insurgent captured by bounty-hunters in Caracas, and that it will provide proof that the Marxist guerrilla had received protection from Venezuelan authorities.

• Tuesday, January 18th 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Record tourist numbers and income in Cuba

  A record two million foreign tourists visited Cuba last year (15% increase over 2003) confirming the leisure industry as the Communist nation's most important earner of hard currency according to official figures released Monday.

• Tuesday, January 18th 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Toxic tide and dangerous vibrio in southern Chile.

  Magallanes Region Sanitary authorities have closed most of the region's coastal area for molluscs harvesting because of an extremely toxic red tide which forced the hospitalization of a woman in Punta Arenas last Saturday.

• Tuesday, January 18th 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Pinochet's family and foundation bank accounts frozen.

  In light of court evidence showing that former Chilean General Augusto Pinochet possesses an unaccounted fortune, allegedly accumulated during his long years as dictator, Chile's biggest bank, Banco de Chile, froze the accounts of the Foundation named after him and those of his immediate family, including a savings account of a 7-year-old grandson.

• Tuesday, January 18th 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Wind frustrates cruise visits in Punta Arenas

  Strong winds blowing in Chile's southern region of Magallanes since last Saturday frustrated the visit of two important cruise vessels scheduled to call in Punta Arenas.