Mercosur

• Monday, August 25th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  “It's the economy, stupid”

  The phrase became famous in the early nineties when United States president George Bush Sr., the victorious commander of the allied troops that liberated Kuwait from Saddam Hussein's occupation was running for a second term.

• Monday, August 25th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Last minute efforts to incorporate Peru

  Mercosur and Peruvian officials are working overtime in Lima, Peru, in a last minute attempt to reach a free trade agreement between Peru and Mercosur on time for the two days official visit of Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

• Monday, August 25th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Macri ahead in Buenos Aires, but fails to avoid runoff

  Preliminary voting results indicate that businessman and president of the famous Boca Juniors soccer club, Mauricio Macri, gained a 37 percent plurality in the Buenos Aires municipal elections Sunday, but he will still have to compete in a Sept. 14 runoff election.

• Sunday, August 24th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Kirchner's first test in the polls.

  The election this Sunday, August 24th, of Buenos Aires next mayor has become a strong test for Argentine president Nestor Kirchner who is openly supporting one of the candidates.

• Sunday, August 24th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Iran cuts economic relations with Argentina

  Iran has announced that it is cutting cultural and economic ties with Argentina following the arrest of its former Ambassador to Buenos Aires last week.

• Friday, August 22nd 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Ex-Iranian ambassador in Argentina to appear in British court

  A former Iranian ambassador to Argentina is due to appear in a British court over the 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish community center that killed 85 people.

• Thursday, August 21st 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Preparing for the WTO Cancún trade round

  Several Latinamerican countries joined China, India, South Africa among others, in the presentation before the World Trade Organization, WTO, of a proposal to liberalize agriculture trade in response to a previous initiative from United States and the European Union, described as “unbalanced”.

• Thursday, August 21st 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Argentine minister denies any “institutional risk”

  The Argentine government “stands in cohesion” and the differences between president Nestor Kirchner and vice-president Daniel Scioli represent no “institutional risk”, underlined this week Alberto Fernández Argentine government cabinet chief.

• Thursday, August 21st 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Argentine economy “cooling”

  Even when the Argentine economy shows a strong expansion compared to a year ago the latest official economic data release indicate that activity is slowing down particularly in the industrial sector.

• Thursday, August 21st 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Brazilians applaud cut in interest rates

  The Brazilian government, business leaders and unions on Wednesday lauded the 2.5 percent decrease in interest rates announced by the Central Bank but noted that the rates must continue to come down to help the economy.