Mercosur

• Tuesday, November 9th 2004 - 20:00 UTC

  Benetton donates land for Mapuche use in Patagonia.

  Details of the donation still have to be worked out, but Benetton said in a statement that Pérez Esquivel can make use of the land as he deems appropriate.

• Tuesday, November 9th 2004 - 20:00 UTC

  President Kirchner re-elected?

  Argentina is still one year away from midterm elections, but some leading politicians are already thinking about the presidential vote in 2007 and mentioning President Néstor Kirchner as a good candidate for re-election.

• Tuesday, November 9th 2004 - 20:00 UTC

  Lan Chile increases fares 7%.

  Beginning this Wednesday Lan Chile's domestic fares will increase 7%, the second time in the last three months reports La Prensa Austral from Punta Arenas.

• Monday, November 8th 2004 - 20:00 UTC

  Cruise season begins in Buenos Aires

  “Saga Pearl” and “Amsterdam” with 1,556 tourists officially inaugurated the 2004/05 cruise season in Buenos Aires which according to Argentine sources will represent over 53,000 visitors.

• Monday, November 8th 2004 - 20:00 UTC

  Poppy Appeal launch in UK Embassy.

  The Poppy Appeal in Argentina was officially launched at an event held at the British Embassy in Buenos Aires on Friday, October 29.

• Monday, November 8th 2004 - 20:00 UTC

  Joint British-Argentine search and rescue exercise.

  Argentine and British military concluded Sunday search and rescue exercises in the South Atlantic in the vicinity of Falklands/Malvinas waters according to reports in the Buenos Aires press.

• Monday, November 8th 2004 - 20:00 UTC

  Mercosur debates institutional reforms.

  The four Mercosur member countries are currently discussing reforms to the 1994 Ouro Preto Protocol, a milestone in the building of the block but which lately has been seen as an impediment for a closer knit organization and achievement of further expansion.

• Monday, November 8th 2004 - 20:00 UTC

  Breaking News form the area.

  Headlines:
  Five stars Sheraton for Ushuaia; Sky airline for competition and “reciprocity”; Unemployment in Magallanes, 8,5%.; Punta Arenas celebrates Chilean Antarctica Day; Argentina opens cinema in Antarctica.

• Monday, November 8th 2004 - 20:00 UTC

  Argentina plays the Chinese card.

  Argentine Foreign Affairs Secretary Rafael Bielsa confirmed this Sunday significant Chinese investments in energy, railways and infrastructure, as well as South Korean financial support, the first credit since Argentina defaulted at the end of 2001.

• Sunday, November 7th 2004 - 20:00 UTC

  Chilean international air traffic grows 6,7%

  During the first nine months international air traffic in Chile increased 6,7% totaling 2,7 million passengers compared to the same period a year before.