Mercosur

• Sunday, April 14th 2002 - 21:00 UTC

  Chavez Freed, Returns to Venezuela

  Hugo Chavez was freed by his military captors and returned to reclaim the Venezuelan presidency Sunday, in a dramatic restoration of power two days after the military said he had resigned.

• Saturday, April 13th 2002 - 21:00 UTC

  Rio Group Summit end in Costa Rica.

  The 16th Rio Group Summit ended Friday in Costa Rica with a call for a reduction in defense spending in order to better fight poverty.

• Saturday, April 13th 2002 - 21:00 UTC

  Carmona sworn in, vows to restore Venezuelan democracy

  Vowing to restore Venezuelan democracy, business leader Pedro Carmona was sworn in Friday as the nation's interim president following the ouster of Hugo Chavez.

• Friday, April 12th 2002 - 21:00 UTC

  Venezuela's Chavez Resigns Under Military Pressure.

  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez resigned on Friday after senior military officers insisted the flamboyant ex-paratrooper leave office, blaming him for violence against a huge anti-Chavez protest in which at least 10 people were killed.

• Wednesday, April 10th 2002 - 21:00 UTC

  US-Uruguay kick-off

  Uruguayan and United States trade officials signed this week in Montevideo the starting agreement for trade and investment promotion that eventually could lead to a full free trade agreement between both countries.

• Tuesday, April 9th 2002 - 21:00 UTC

  IMF and Argentina closer

  Argentina and the IMF delegation currently in Buenos Aires agreed to find a monitoring and control mechanism to ensure that the targets of the “federal fiscal” pact and honored and provincial deficits are effectively reduced.

• Tuesday, April 9th 2002 - 21:00 UTC

  Contingency loan for Brazil

  The International Monetary Fund approved a 15 billion US dollars additional contingency loan for Brazil, following the satisfactory perfomance of the Brazilian economy, according to a release from the multilateral organization.

• Monday, April 8th 2002 - 21:00 UTC

  US-Chile trade talks

  United States and Chile held this week in Santiago the eleventh round of talks in the framework of a future free trade agreement between both countries.

• Thursday, April 4th 2002 - 21:00 UTC

  Cavallo remains under arrest.

  Argentina's former Minister of Economy Domingo Cavallo remains under arrest after Judge Julio Speroni rejected an appeal by his lawyers. Mr. Cavallo was put under arrest last Wednesday in connection with a probe into illegal arms sales during the early nineties under the Carlos Menem administration when he occupied two different cabinet posts, Foreign Affairs and Economy.

• Wednesday, April 3rd 2002 - 21:00 UTC

  Other options, please

  Uruguayan president Jorge Batlle in an official visit to Brazil warned that “times have changed” and this has forced Uruguay to look for other alternatives to Mercosur.