Mercosur

• Wednesday, September 29th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Municipal test for President Lula's administration.

  Brazil is in the final hours of campaigning for Sunday's municipal elections with one of the most heated and important contests in Sao Paulo, South America's largest city

• Wednesday, September 29th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Joint Patagonia tourism promotion.

  Heads of town governments from Magallanes Region in Chile and the Argentine provinces of Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego signed this week in Punta Arenas a Patagonia South-to-South integration agreement with the purpose of improving links and promoting the area overseas.

• Wednesday, September 29th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Record unemployment in Chile.

  In spite of the strong recovery of the Chilean economy, unemployment in the quarter June-August 2004 reached 9,9% , 0,5% over the same period a year ago and a 0,2% increase over the previous quarter, according to the latest release from the Chilean Statistics Institute, INE.

• Wednesday, September 29th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Spain main investor in Chile.

  Spain has consolidated as the main foreign investor in Chile totalling over 14 billion US dollars with major undertakings in public utilities, (electricity, waterworks, gas distribution), telecommunications, financial services and over fifty small and medium sized companies.

• Wednesday, September 29th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Encouraging news for EU-Mercosur.

  The recent naming of a former left wing Italian Primer Minister as head of the European Parliament Mercosur Committee was seen as a positive sign for the ongoing trade negotiations between the two blocks which have an agreed October 31 deadline.

• Wednesday, September 29th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Argentine boy shoots three classmates.

  The rampage at the Islas Malvinas Middle School No. 2 in the south-eastern corner of Buenos Aires province touched off an intense nationwide debate about spiralling school violence in Argentina.

• Wednesday, September 29th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Buenos Aires cruise season begins November 5.

  Next November 5 with the arrival of the “Amsterdam” and “Saga Pearl” the official 2004/05 cruise season will be inaugurated in Buenos Aires which this summer expects to receive over 50,000 cruise visitors.

• Tuesday, September 28th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Mercosur expects EU trade proposal next Wednesday .

  Following the exchange of proposals, “both sides will then decide if what is on the table allows us to continue negotiations and conclude them by October 31”, the officially agreed deadline, “or we consider that proposals are not mature enough and in this case we will continue working further on”, said this Monday in Brussels Arancha González, the spokesperson for the European Union Trade Representative Pascal Lamy.

• Tuesday, September 28th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Britain to condone poor countries multilateral debts.

  Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer George Brown promised this Monday in Brighton that UK will condone the world's poorest countries debt with the World Bank.

• Tuesday, September 28th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Stiglitz blasts G-8 and IMF “democratic deficit”

  US economist and Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz demanded an urgent review of multilateral organizations such as the International Monetary Fund, IMF, World Bank and particularly the G-8 given their lack of legitimacy which impedes the development of a “true global democracy”.