Mercosur

• Tuesday, September 23rd 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Euro Central Bank president confirmed.

  French born Jean-Claude Trichet is the next president of the European Bank following his approval by the European Union Congress.

• Monday, September 22nd 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Chavez “ousted before the end of 2003”

  Twice former Venezuelan president Carlos Andrés Pérez forecasted that current president Hugo Chávez will be ousted from office “this year”, and his ousting “will not be without violence”.

• Monday, September 22nd 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Uruguay's UN troops under the spotlight

  Uruguayan authorities have ordered an inquiry into allegations that Uruguayan peace keeping troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo under United Nations umbrella, have been involved in human rights abuses, following a report from Amnesty International.

• Saturday, September 20th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  IMF approves Argentina's program, but?.

  After two long months of tough negotiations, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund approved this Saturday the three years 12,5 billion US dollars agreement reached with Argentina. The board meeting was presided by First Deputy Managing Director Anne Krueger and extended for over three hours

• Saturday, September 20th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  French Request for Argentine Rejected.

  A federal judge today Saturday rejected a French request to extradite a former Argentine naval captain wanted in the deaths of two French nuns killed during Argentina's Dirty War.

• Thursday, September 18th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  OAS support for mine clearance in Chile.

  The Organization of American States, OAS, will provide technical assistance to Chile for the elimination of antipersonnel mine inventories. An agreement was signed this week in Washington under which OAS will help Chile “with the elimination of stockpiles, acquisition of special equipment and obtaining international financial support for mine clearance operations”.

• Thursday, September 18th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Petrobras oil production 2,1 million barrels/day.

  The average oil and natural gas daily production of Petrobas in Brazil and abroad during August reached 2,091,506 barrels, a 2,6% expansion over July and 12,2% above twelve months ago.

• Wednesday, September 17th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Fed leaves rate unchanged at 1%.

  The United States Federal Open Market Committee decided this Tuesday to keep its target for the federal funds rate at 1 percent. FOMC argued that “the risk of inflation becoming undesirably low remains the predominant concern for the foreseeable future”

• Wednesday, September 17th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Pinochet's legacy on the spotlight.

  Human rights militants protested this weekend the presence in the port of Buenos Aires of the Chilean Navy school vessel “Esmeralda” which is claimed that during the military regime of General Pinochet became a centre of “torture and extermination”.

• Wednesday, September 17th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  US requests Mercosur troops for Iraq.

  The Bush administration has begun contacts with governments of three major Mercosur members with the purpose of inviting them to participate in a 15,000 strong multinational peace keeping force in Iraq.