Mercosur

• Monday, May 12th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Anti-Menem vote consolidates,

  As a robust anti-Menem tendency seems to consolidate in the Argentine electorate, front runner in the presidential election Nestor Kirchner confessed this weekend to the Buenos Aires press that in his wildest dreams he never expected to become president in 2003.

• Monday, May 12th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Inflation in Uruguay.

  Consumer prices in Uruguay increased 0,95% during April bringing the first quarter total to 5,52% and 27,68% for the last twelve months, according to the latest release from the Statistics Office.

• Monday, May 12th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Lula and Duhalde in Batlle's agenda

  A busy week ahead for Uruguayan president Jorge Batlle who is travelling to Brasilia to meet with Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, president of Latinamerica's largest and most influential country that has begun a strong regional political integration persuasion policy, hoping to muster sufficient support in South America to counterbalance the powerful George Bush administration.

• Monday, May 12th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Mercosur-USA 4+1 talks.

  Argentina and Uruguay will attempt to launch the 4+1 agreement talks, between Mercosur and United States, since the Free Trade of the Americas Association, FTAA, and process seems to be stagnant. The initiative should take place during the second half of 2003 when Uruguay will hold the Mercosur pro-tempore chair.

• Monday, May 12th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  China in the G8.

  Beijing officials have confirmed that China will be participating in the G 8 summit to be hosted next month by France. French Prime Minister Jean Pierre Raffarin invited Chinese President Hu Jintao during a visit to China last month.

• Monday, May 12th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  US Airways o buy jets from Canada, Brazil.

  US Airways has struck a $4.3bn deal to buy at least 170 regional jets from Bombardier of Canada and Embraer of Brazil just weeks after emerging from bankruptcy.

• Saturday, May 10th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Leading Argentine candidate said to be against impunity laws.

  Nestor Kirchner, the heavily favored frontrunner in Argentina's presidential runoff, is opposed to existing laws that allowed human rights violators under the military dictatorship to go unpunished, activists said here on Friday.

• Friday, May 9th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Argentine front-runner says Mercosur comes before FTAA.

  The front-runner in Argentina's May 18 presidential run-off said here Thursday that he would give priority to strengthening the Mercosur trade bloc over efforts to establish the U.S.-sponsored Free Trade Area of the Americas

• Friday, May 9th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Negative April inflation in Chile.

  Consumer prices in Chile during April dropped 0,1%, the first negative index in 21 years according to the latest release from the Chilean Statistics Institute.
  The fall in fuel prices was the main impact in the index, which did not surprise market expectations and signals a relief from the previous two months when uncertainty over the Iraq crisis pushed the annual inflation to 4,5%.

• Friday, May 9th 2003 - 21:00 UTC

  Positive change of mood in US.

  A majority of Americans believes that the country's military victory in Iraq will help with the war on terrorism and expressed optimism about the economy's recovery, according to an opinion poll released on Thursday.