Mercosur

• Tuesday, June 25th 2002 - 21:00 UTC

  King Juan Carlos invited to Antarctica

  Chile has extended an official invitation to Spain's King Juan Carlos to tour Chilean Antarctic stations and visit the different scientific research programs.

• Monday, June 24th 2002 - 21:00 UTC

  The “Lula factor”

  In an attempt to avert the “black” Friday of last week, and his presidential chances, Brazil's Socialist candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva promised to honor foreign debt and continue with the current stabilization program if he wins October's presidential election.

• Monday, June 24th 2002 - 21:00 UTC

  “Strangled Argentina”

  Argentina will seek this week in Washington the green light from the International Monetary Fund, IMF, for the rescheduling of its foreign debt maturing in the coming 18 months.

• Friday, June 21st 2002 - 21:00 UTC

  Uruguay prepares for the worse

  Two days after the International Monetary Fund, IMF, approved a massive support package, Uruguay announced the free flotation of its currency.
  
  Uruguay, locked between its two powerful Mercosur partners, Argentina and Brazil, has been suffering the direct consequences of the regional financial instability, particularly when Argentines fearing a contagion flocked to withdraw deposits from Uruguayan banks.

• Thursday, June 20th 2002 - 21:00 UTC

  Mercosur openly supports Argentina's sovereignty claim over the Falklands in United Nations

  The Special Committee on Decolonization of the United Nations adopted a draft resolution, presented by Chile, calling on Britain and Argentina to resume negotiations to find a peaceful resolution to the sovereignty dispute over the Falkland Islands/Malvinas. The resolution presented Wednesday morning in New York was sponsored by Chile, Bolivia, Cuba and Venezuela, and specifically supported by Mercosur.

• Thursday, June 20th 2002 - 21:00 UTC

  People's power

  A delegation of Peruvian cabinet ministers and local elected officials from the city of Arequipa reached an agreement suspending the controversial privatization of public utilities that triggered a week of violent protests in the south of Peru.

• Wednesday, June 19th 2002 - 21:00 UTC

  G 7 Optimistic

  Finance Ministers of the seven most industrialized countries, meeting in Halifax Canada, expressed confidence in the world's economic prospects, that they describer as “encouraging”.
  
  The economies of the G 7, United States, Canada, Germany, Britain, Italy, France and Japan “have not ceased to strengthen and should continue to do so for the rest of the year”, said the official release after the meeting was over.

• Wednesday, June 19th 2002 - 21:00 UTC

  Inflation under control

  United States and United Kingdom seem to have inflationary pressures under control diminishing prospects of an interest rate rise in the coming months.

• Tuesday, June 18th 2002 - 21:00 UTC

  World Bank vigilant

  The World Bank is concerned about diminishing direct investments in Latinamerica that could have a negative impact in a continent already suffering from financial and political difficulties, according to the organization's head economist for the area, Guillermo Perry.

• Monday, June 17th 2002 - 21:00 UTC

  How to weaken a president

  The IMF mission currently in Buenos Aires discussing the resumption of credit to Argentina increased demands regarding financial and banking reforms, while the Duhalde administration, limited in its political support, must also address growing differences between the Economy Ministry and the Central Bank.