Mercosur

• Tuesday, March 25th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Uncertainty and pessimism in Latinamerica

  War in Iraq will affect the already stagnant Latinamerican economy said Enrique Iglesias president of the Inter American Development Bank, IDB, during the opening ceremony of the 44th IDB annual assembly held in Milan, Italy.

• Tuesday, March 25th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Bush to request 75 billion for the war

  President George Bush will be requesting the US Congress an additional 75 billion US dollars to face war costs and reinforce counter terrorism measures. The official announcement is expected Tuesday after a meeting of the President with Congress leaders and the National Economic Council.

• Tuesday, March 25th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Breaking News.

  Headlines: Chile:Prospects for fuel prices; Argentina's ex-pat remittances; UK budget in the red; Nottingham professor in Magallanes; Optimistic Chile;

• Monday, March 24th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  EU-Mercosur agree to keep talking

  The European Union and Mercosur agreed last Friday in Brussels to continue advancing in negotiations to open markets improving product liberalization lists and the exchange of proposals in services and investments.

• Monday, March 24th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Kirchner and Menem top of the poll

  The ruling Argentine coalition candidate Governor Néstor Kirchner and former president Carlos Menem lead vote intention for the presidential April 27 election, according to the latest polls published in the Argentine media. However none of them manage to cross the 20% threshold.

• Monday, March 24th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  A step further back

  With the start of the Iraq war Latinamerica fell back another step in the priority list of the United States, a tendency that unexpectedly irrupted when the September 11 attacks in spite of the President George Bush administration promise that this would become the “century of the Americas”.

• Saturday, March 22nd 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Bolivian gov't tries to placate military over port issue

  Bolivian President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada has sent a letter to his military chiefs seeking to placate their reported unhappiness over the possibility that a Chilean port will be used to export the country's natural gas.

• Friday, March 21st 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  IMF Completes First Review of Transitional Stand-By Arrangement with Argentina.

  The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today completed the first review of Argentina's performance under a seven-month Stand-By Credit Arrangement approved on January 24, 2003.

• Friday, March 21st 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Uruguay reaches agreement with IMF

  The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed this week the second review under the Stand-By Arrangement with Uruguay, approved a one-year extension through end-March 2005, and re-phased projected disbursements over the extension period. Upon completion of the review, a disbursement of SDR 218.5 million (about US$303 million) became immediately available.

• Wednesday, March 19th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Breaking News.

  Headlines: Mercosur requests open markets from Europe; Fed keeps rates unchanged.