Mercosur

• Wednesday, August 6th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Record winter tourist season in Argentina

  The Argentine Tourism Office reports an excellent winter season with record numbers compared to a year ago. With 7,350,000 tourists, a 15% increase over the 6,400,000 in 2002, “the season exceeded our most optimistic expectations”, reads an official report indicating that the South, followed by the Northern provinces proved the main attractions.

• Wednesday, August 6th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Brazil's pensions reform past the first hurdle

  A massive protest was the first popular reaction to the approval by the Brazilian Lower House of the controversial public pensions' system reforms. An estimated 35,000 protesters marched along Brasilia's streets destroying public property and finally tried to break into Congress where riot police pushed them back.

• Tuesday, August 5th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  A testing week for Mr. Lula da Silva

  A testing week full of tension, uncertainty and turbulence has begun for President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his seven months administration that took office full of optimism and hope for millions of Brazilians who granted his a landslide victory.

• Tuesday, August 5th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Aerolíneas Argentinas makes a profit.

  Spanish owned Aerolíneas Argentinas expects to end 2003 with a considerable profit, “quiet an event”, according to Mr. Antonio Mata, president of the company's Executive Committee.

• Tuesday, August 5th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Perú. Mercosur's next member.

  Peru expects to join Mercosur this month in similar conditions as Chile and Bolivia that are associate members of the regional block. The announcement was made following the Mercosur and Andean Community, CAN, Foreign Secretaries summit held in Montevideo to speed the South American integration timetable.

• Monday, August 4th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Crucial Mercosur-CAN summit.

  Mercosur and Andean Community Foreign Affairs Ministers will be holding a crucial meeting this Monday in Montevideo in an attempt to conclude a common free trade area between the two regional blocks by December 31.

• Monday, August 4th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Wall Street and Fantasyland-Argentina.

  Wall Street investment bankers, brokers and money managers who touted Argentina in the late nineties as one of the world's hottest economies, -as they raked in fat fees for marketing the country's stocks and bonds-, ended helping to actively create the most spectacular economic collapses in modern history, claims this Sunday's edition of “The Washington Post”.

• Monday, August 4th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Argentina and Colombia in Lan Chile's roadmap.

  Argentina and Colombia's air markets are in Lan Chile's strategic expansion agenda, although there's no timetable for theses operations.

• Sunday, August 3rd 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  New visa requirements for layovers in United States

  Many travelers making layovers in the United States to catch connecting flights between international points will now be required to obtain visas, the U.S. departments of State and Homeland Security announced.

• Friday, August 1st 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Caribbean Islands Will Be National Parks

  Three Caribbean islands home only to sea birds and turtles are soon to become national parks in the British Virgin Islands, the natural resources minister said Thursday.