Mercosur

• Tuesday, July 27th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  “Political” solution for Mercosur trade dispute.

  The Brazilian government is willing to negotiate a “political” solution to the current trade conflicts with Argentina (Brazil's main Mercosur partner), said this Monday Brazilian Under secretary for South American affairs Luis Felipe Macedo Soares.

• Tuesday, July 27th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Vital WTO talks begin with recriminations.

  On the eve of decisive negotiations in Geneva in the framework of the World Trade Organization, United States accused French president of Jacques Chirac of setting obstacle to a draft agreement worked out by the European Union in an attempt to harmonize a common position.

• Tuesday, July 27th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Public opinion trust in Kirchner eroding.

  Argentine's trust in President Nestor Kirchner's administration dropped 7% this month compared to June and is at its lowest since taking office in May 2003. According to a rating from the Torcuato Di Tella University this month the confidence index was 2,49 points while in June it stood at 2,68.

• Tuesday, July 27th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  IMF reviews role in Argentine crisis.

  The International Monetary Fund, IMF, considered today a report from the Independent Evaluation Office which elaborates on the alleged multilateral credit organization's degree of responsibility in the recent Argentine financial crisis.

• 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.