Mercosur

• Monday, January 5th 2004 - 20:00 UTC

  Argentina to legalize undocumented aliens.

  The Argentine government plans to legalize the labor situation of some 700,000 illegal immigrants hailing from neighboring countries that belong to or are associated with Mercosur.

• Monday, January 5th 2004 - 20:00 UTC

  Thousands of Brazilian Indians invade ranches.

  Armed with shotguns and bows and arrows, thousands of Brazilian Indians invaded ranches near the border with Paraguay to claim what they say is ancestral land, state officials and police said on Sunday.

• Saturday, January 3rd 2004 - 20:00 UTC

  Argentina's first century in Antarctica.

  A century ago, January 2, 1904, Argentina officially took over the running of the Meteorological and Magnetic Observatory established by the Scottish Antarctic Expedition in the South Orkneys.

• Friday, January 2nd 2004 - 20:00 UTC

  Brazil applies same medicine to US visitors.

  Brazilian Migration officials began Thursday January first to photograph and fingerprint all arriving American visitors following instructions from a federal Judge who compared the Unites States new anti terrorist security policies, to which Brazilians and other countries' citizens are subject, as “horrors of Nazi times”.

• Friday, January 2nd 2004 - 20:00 UTC

  Chile presides Security Council.

  Chile will be presiding during January the United Nations Security Council. Chilean Ambassador Heraldo Muñoz will be coordinating this month's agenda that includes a visit of the Council members to Iraq and a session dedicated to Afghanistan following a report from the UN special representative in that country.

• Friday, January 2nd 2004 - 20:00 UTC

  “British interests” and the Pinochet 1973 military coup.

  United Kingdom archives made public this week reveal London's positive attitude towards the military coup of General Augusto Pinochet in Chile in 1973, describing military officers as “decent professionals”, who “stand on our side”.

• Friday, January 2nd 2004 - 20:00 UTC

  US-Chile free trade treaty becomes effective.

  January first the free trade agreement between United States and Chile became effective, an agreement that hopefully will double Chilean exports to the US in the coming six years.

• Friday, January 2nd 2004 - 20:00 UTC

  Fidel Castro celebrates 45 years of “struggle”

  The Cuban regime celebrated January first the 45th anniversary of Fidel Castro's revolution with a New Year's message calling on citizens to prepare for yet another year of “struggle”.

• Monday, December 29th 2003 - 20:00 UTC

  Antartica tourist flights from Ushuaia.

  Beginning January an Argentine company will be organizing Antarctic air tours leaving from Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego.

• Monday, December 29th 2003 - 20:00 UTC

  Berger Wins Guatemala Run-Off Election.

  A pro-business former mayor of the Guatemalan capital was elected president over a center-left engineer who billed himself as the candidate of the poor in a runoff election marred by low voter turnout.