Mercosur

• Thursday, November 20th 2003 - 20:00 UTC

  Consensus in Miami surprises demonstrators

  Ministers from 34 countries of the Americas approved this Thursday the “Miami Declaration” which contemplates a more “flexible” Free Trade Association of the Americas, FTAA, agreement enabling negotiations to proceed in accordance with the 2005 timetable.

• Wednesday, November 19th 2003 - 20:00 UTC

  Recession over in Uruguay.

  The mild recovery of the Uruguayan economy in the first quarter of 2003 consolidated in the second Q and GDP expanded at an annual rate of 5,5% according to the latest release from the Uruguayan Central Bank. Growth actually was 2,2% in the first Q and increased to 3,3% in the second Q.

• Wednesday, November 19th 2003 - 20:00 UTC

  South Wind and Lafsa ambitious plans

  Argentine airlines Southern Winds and Líneas Aéreas Federales SA, (an Argentine government managed company of three failed airlines that still has to take off) announced in Buenos Aires they will be jointly flying three times a week to Mexico City and the international sea resort of Cancún beginning next December.

• Wednesday, November 19th 2003 - 20:00 UTC

  US economy expected to grow 4,2%

  Treasury Secretary John Snow addressing the annual conference of the Confederation of British Industry, CBI, in Birmingham anticipated the United States economy would be expanding 4,2% in the last quarter of 2003.

• Wednesday, November 19th 2003 - 20:00 UTC

  Miami Summit

  Headlines:
  US priority: an operational agreement by 2005; Argentina targets a “flexible” agreement.

• Wednesday, November 19th 2003 - 20:00 UTC

  Máximo Saúl Menem born in Santiago.

  The son of former Argentine president Carlos Menem and Chilean television star and former beauty queen Cecilia Bolocco was born early Wednesday morning in a private clinic of Santiago.

• Wednesday, November 19th 2003 - 20:00 UTC

  Duhalde's fence mending task.

  Former Argentine president Eduardo Duhalde, who was recently named Mercosur's representative, began this week a round of informal contacts with political leaders, high officials, businessmen and members of the international financial community hoping to co-ordinate a political and economic route map for the integration of the South American block.

• Tuesday, November 18th 2003 - 20:00 UTC

  Lack of broad agreement pointing toward “FTAA lite”

  The absence of broad agreement on several sticky issues is pointing toward the probability that what will be achieved this week in hemispheric trade talks underway here is a bare-bones accord, something of an outline of an “FTAA lite.”

• Tuesday, November 18th 2003 - 20:00 UTC

  Brazil Sends Terror Suspect to Paraguay

  A man suspected of financing the Islamic militant group Hezbollah from a border region where Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil converge has been extradited to Paraguay to face tax evasion charges, Brazilian officials said Tuesday.

• Monday, November 17th 2003 - 20:00 UTC

  Breaking News from Chile.

  Headlines:
  Record low country risk for Chile; Spain's Aznar visits Chile for second time in five years; Red tide intensifes in Punta Arenas.