Mercosur

• Monday, October 18th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Cuba rejects EU approach.

  The Cuban government's expulsion of a Spanish Member of Parliament and two Dutch legislators is proof that Fidel Castro's Communist regime has no interest in patching up relations with Spain or the European Union, Cuban dissidents said in Havana.

• Monday, October 18th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Sustainable Antarctic tourism challenges.

  Antarctic tourism and threats to the white continent biodiversity and conservation were at the heart of the “Science and Sustainable Tourism” seminar which took place in the framework of the APEC Third Tourism Ministers Encounter in Punta Arenas, sponsored by Magallanes Region government and the Chilean Antarctic Institute.

• Sunday, October 17th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  LAN's Enrique Cueto selected CEO of the Year.

  Latin Finance magazine citing ten straight years of profits and a whopping 300% jump in stock prices since 2002, has named LAN Chile's Enrique Cueto as its CEO of the Year. The magazine's October 2004 issue ? dedicated to infrastructure investment ? carries a wide-ranging interview with the Chilean airline executive written by Mary Dempsey.

• Sunday, October 17th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Record US trade deficit last August.

  Oil prices and China's monetary competitiveness are blamed for the last August 54 billion US dollars trade deficit, the second highest in recent United States history.

• Sunday, October 17th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Paraguay shocked by lack of law and order.

  Thousands of Paraguayans took to the streets of the capital Asunción to protest increasing crime following a wave of killings and kidnappings.

• Sunday, October 17th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Former OAS President Under House Arrest.

  A San Jose court on Saturday placed former Costa Rica President and OAS Secretary General Miguel Angel Rodriguez under six months' house arrest while awaiting trial on corruption charges.

• Sunday, October 17th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  'The Patagonian toothfish needs protection'

  Environmentalists urged fishing nations to do more to protect the rare Patagonian toothfish, dubbed the “white gold” of the sea which is being driven to extinction by rampant poaching.

• Saturday, October 16th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Chilean Navy delegation in Ushuaia celebration.

  A delegation of Chilean naval authorities travelled last October 12 to Ushuaia, Argentina, specially invited by their Argentine Navy counterparts to participate in the city's 120th anniversary.

• Saturday, October 16th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Executive order puts Lan Peru back in the air.

  Lan Peru resumed domestic and international flights this Friday afternoon following an emergency executive order signed last night by Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo leaving without effect a Court ruling that suspended the company's operations for five days beginning Friday.

• Saturday, October 16th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Judge upholds Argentine government in hake dispute.

  An Argentine Federal Court Judge from Rawson, José Eduardo Pinsker turned down legal appeals which would have allowed 11 vessels belonging to five companies to continue catching common hake (Merluccius hubbsi).