Mercosur

• Wednesday, July 9th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Lula faces first strike

  With only six months in office Brazilian president and former union leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva faces his first national strike following federal government employees' decision to cease activities in protest against the proposed reform to the pension system.

• Tuesday, July 8th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Kirchner tops public opinion ratings.

  Argentine President Nestor Kirchner in office since last May 25 has a positive image among 90,3% of the population according to a poll published this Sunday in the Buenos Aires press. The opinion poll also indicates that his strong standing has reduced his negative image to a mere 1,8% of interviews.

• Tuesday, July 8th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  “FTAA on track”, says US.

  The Free Trade Association of the Americas, FTAA, that should become effective in 2005 involving 34 countries of the Americas “is 90% concluded, although we still have to solve, agriculture and intellectual property, which are the toughest issues”, remarked United States Ambassador Luis Lauredo in Guatemala.

• Tuesday, July 8th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Chilean scars remain unhealed

  Thirty years after the 1973 bloody military coup that enthroned dictator Augusto Pinochet, 87% of Chileans believe the country still has not achieved national reconciliation, according to a public opinion poll published last Sunday in Santiago's main daily El Mercurio.

• Tuesday, July 8th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Appeal to the Argentine Armed Forces

  Addressing the top brass of the Armed Forces on Monday night Argentine president Nestor Kirchner told officers from the three services that “we can't take charge of the painful moments of our fatherland without contributing to the truth”, and further on emphasized that the re-encounter of Argentines “must not come from silence and complicity”.

• Tuesday, July 8th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Kirchner-Blair meeting

  Argentine president Nestor Kirchner will be leaving Thursday night for London to begin a week long meeting with European leaders in France, Spain and Brussels where he will be meeting EU Executive Committee president Romano Prodi.

• Monday, July 7th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  End of the “submission taboo”.

  Argentine Chief of cabinet said that President Nestor Kirchner ended the “submission taboo” towards the International Monetary Fund, IMF that ruled Argentina's relations with the multilateral credit organization during the nineties

• Monday, July 7th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  IMF cuts Chile's growth estimate.

  In spite of praising the achievements of the Chilean economy, an IMF staff mission visiting Chile ended its tour lowering the country's growth estimate for 2004 from 4,8 to 4,5%.

• Friday, July 4th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Breaking News.

  Headlines:
  Insufficient inflation in Uruguay; Deflation in Argentina; Chile's inflation flat; Unexpected rise in US unemployment.

• Friday, July 4th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Police Chief of Argentine Province Sacked

  Authorities sacked the police chief for Buenos Aires province on Thursday, days after plans were announced to send more than 2.000 national guardsmen onto the streets to curtail a crime wave.