Mercosur

• Tuesday, July 27th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Strong 2004/05 recovery in Latinamerica.

  Latinamerica and the Caribbean strong economic recovery will continue rolling for the rest of the year with the region's GDP expanding 4%, well above the 1,5% of last year, according to a report from the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, UNECE.

• Monday, July 26th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Chilean company demands Argentine gas suppliers.

  A Chilean private utility company and its electricity generating facility in Santiago confirmed this Sunday they have presented a demand in an international tribunal against Argentine private natural gas suppliers.

• Monday, July 26th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Chavez prefers Mercosur to Andean integration.

  Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez admitted he prefers Venezuela's integration to Mercosur over the Andean Community of Nations, CAN, which he described as an agreement of “elites”.

• Monday, July 26th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Kirchner contains political crisis.

  Argentine president Nestor Kirchner contained this weekend a political storm by dismissing Justice and Security Minister Gusatavo Beliz and appointing Treasury Prosecutor General Horacio Rosatti to replace him following a growing controversy over law enforcement which became most evident July 16 when the police stood passively for hours while demonstrators attempted to storm the Buenos Aires Legislature.

• Monday, July 26th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  “There's no way a General can accumulate that money”

  The current investigation into former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet bank accounts is directed preliminarily to discover infringements of tax legislation since the funds deposited in the Riggs Bank of Washington DC were never included in the General's 1994/98 tax statements, according to Santiago press reports.

• Sunday, July 25th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  US Productivity faster than job creation.

  United States Chairman of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan said that the growing productivity in the US economy and the rather shallow recession of 2001 are the main reasons for the weak job creation response of the latest recovery.

• Saturday, July 24th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Soybean price dip costs Argentina $ 937 million.

  A drop in the world price of soybeans over the past three months will result in a loss of some $937 million in export revenue fro Argentina, Buenos Aires daily Ambito Financiero reported this Friday.

• Saturday, July 24th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Good news for president Lula da Silva.

  Employment and direct foreign investment increased during June in Brazil indicating a possible strong rebound of domestic demand. According to the latest release from the Brazilian Geography and Statistics Institute, IBGE, unemployment in June drooped to 11,7%, half a point compared to May and the second month running it has contracted.

• Friday, July 23rd 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Punta Arenas as gateway to Antarctica.

  Punta Arenas is preparing for a month full of international activity that should help the city boost tourism and confirm its condition as gateway to Antarctica.

• Friday, July 23rd 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  New Carrasco air terminal.

  Carrasco, Uruguay's main airport is undergoing a rapid expansion and renewal process involving millions of dollars and with the objective of converting it in a regional hub for Mercosur countries.