Mercosur

• Tuesday, October 5th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  US supports Brazil's Security Council candidacy.

  United States Secretary of State Colin Powell said this Tuesday that Brazil is “a solid candidate” to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and praised Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for his regional leadership and international standing.

• Tuesday, October 5th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Chilean consumer prices stable.

  Chile recorded this year the lowest September consumer prices index since 1931, that is 0,1% with an accumulated nine months rate of 2,3% and 1,5% during the last twelve months according to the latest release from the Chilean Statistics Office.

• Tuesday, October 5th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Record fisheries exports.

  Chilean fisheries exports reached 1,468 billion US dollars during the first seven months of 2004, a 12,8% increase over the same period last year indicating that the 2,5 billion US dollars target for the whole twelve months can be achieved, reported the Fisheries National Society, SNP.

• Monday, October 4th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Six hour daily blackouts in Cuba.

  Cuban authorities announced a daily six-hour blackout plan for Havana as one of the steps taken by the government recently to stem the island's serious energy crisis.

• Monday, October 4th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Deadline for OAS Secretary General.

  Costa Rican president Abel Pacheco said he will ask for the resignation of Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General Miguel Angel Rodriguez if he does not explain strong allegations of corruption by this Monday.

• Sunday, October 3rd 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Lula, Cardoso parties vie for Brazilian municipal posts.

  The parties of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his predecessor Fernando Henrique Cardoso are set to duke it out on today Sunday in elections to fill more than 55,000 seats in the country's 5,562 municipal governments.

• Sunday, October 3rd 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  IMF, EU add weight to G7 debt demands.

  Rodrigo de Rato, managing director of the 184-nation IMF, and EU members added their voices to Friday's demand by the Group of Seven most industrialized nations urging the government of President Néstor Kirchner to strike a deal as soon as possible.

• Sunday, October 3rd 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  IMF calls for more aid for poor countries.

  The annual International Monetary Fund and World Bank assembly ended this Sunday in Washington calling for an increase in help for developing countries and to take advantage of the current global economy growth to apply much needed reforms.

• Sunday, October 3rd 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Strong approval for President Lula but runoff in Sao Paulo.

  Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's Workers Party seems to have achieved significant advances in this Sunday's municipal elections, but will be forced to a runoff next October 31 to keep control of the country's most important city Sao Paulo.

• Sunday, October 3rd 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Falklands' connection in Argentine-Chilean incident.

  Incoming Chilean Foreign Secretary Ignacio Walker who caused another serious diplomatic confrontation in the bilateral relation with Argentina when it was revealed that last May he wrote a column describing the Peronist party as “authoritarian and fascist like” and Mr. Kirchner as a “populist” was not actually the first choice for the job.