June 9 (<a href=quote.bloomberg.com>Bloomberg) -- Brazil's currency pared gains as investors and companies took advantage of last week's rally in the real to buy dollars to pay for imports and maturing debt.

Brazil's real rose 0.5 percent to 2.8625 per dollar in Sao Paulo at 3:44 p.m. New York time. Earlier, it gained 0.7 percent to 2.8550 after rising 3.2 percent last week, the best performance of the 16 most-traded currencies. Colombia's peso rose and Mexico's peso reversed declines to rise.

Brazilian banks and companies have sold almost $6 billion of bonds abroad this year, boosting the Brazilian real to a 24 percent gain, making it cheaper to buy dollars for debts and export payments right now. Brazilian banks this Thursday alone must pay $550 million of foreign bonds. Of that, $300 million is owed by Banco Garantia, the Brazilian unit of Credit Suisse Group, $100 million by the Brazilian unit of Madrid-based Banco Santander SA and $150 million by Sao Paulo's Banco Votorantim SA.

``I'm hearing people say that at current levels, it's a good time to buy dollars,'' said Carlos Gandolfo, a partner at Pioneer Corretora de Cambio Ltda., a Sao Paulo currency brokerage that handles about a third of all trades in Brazil's spot market.

Brazil's benchmark 8 percent bond maturing in 2014 gained 0.38 cent to 92 cents on the dollar, paring the yield to 9.95 percent, according to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. The bond closed at a record high of 91.63 on Friday after earlier rising as high as 92.63 in intraday trading in New York and London.

Debt Balance

Further declines may have been limited by investor expectations that the government will sell a foreign currency bond in the coming days.

There is a lot of maturing debt but beyond this, every week it seems we have someone else selling debt,'' said Marcel Peregrino, who helps manages about 25 million reais of bonds and stocks for Ativa SA, a Rio de Janeiro fund management company. The rumors of a Brazilian sovereign sale are also strong.''

Some of the banks paying maturing debt, such as Votorantim and Santander have already secured new finance to pay their maturing debt.

The rough balance of maturing debt and new bond sales should keep the real in the 2.85 reais to the dollar to 2.95 reais to the dollar range for the next few weeks, Peregrino said.

Colombia

Colombia's peso rose for the sixth day in seven after Finance Minister Roberto Junguito's resignation Friday led to the designation of his deputy to assume the post, allaying investor concern about continuity of the country's economic policy.

The peso gained 0.4 percent to 2,815.00 per dollar in Bogota, and the benchmark 10 percent bond due January 2012 rose for a sixth day, adding 0.15 cent on the dollar to 114.40, paring its yield to 7.68 percent, according to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. The yield has declined from a high of 14.46 percent on Sept. 19.

President Alvaro Uribe moved quickly Friday to fill the ministry post, naming 44-year-old Deputy Finance Minister Alberto Carrasquilla, a former technical vice director at the central bank, as Junguito's successor. Carrasquilla, who said he would continue the economic policies undertaken by Junguito, will be sworn in June 20.

``It's clear the economic program is going to continue on the same track and at the same pace without skipping a beat,'' said Jose Cerritelli, an analyst at Bear, Stearns & Co. in New York.

Growth Course

Junguito, a former Colombian representative to the International Monetary Fund, was instrumental in signing a $2.1 billion, two-year standby loan accord with the IMF. He also helped push key pension, tax and labor bills through Congress aimed at cutting deficit spending and boosting growth.

Junguito felt he'd completed his mission,'' said Alvaro Camaro, head of research at Acciones y Valores SA brokerage. He got the accord with the IMF and he pushed through the key reforms.''

The government on Friday announced that industrial output, excluding coffee processing, rose 15.3 percent in March from the year-earlier month, the national statistics agency said in Bogota. Industrial sales rose 14.8 percent.

Accelerating industrial output may help the economy maintain its momentum after growing 3.8 percent in the first quarter, the biggest gain in the gross domestic product in five years.

Interest rates near historic lows have helped boost the construction industry, raising demand for metal products and other items used in building and helping create jobs.

Regional Currencies

Chile's peso fell for the fourth day in five, sliding 0.4 percent to 717.05 per dollar, paring its gain in 2003 to 0.5 percent.

Mexico's peso reversed declines to rise for the second day in three, adding 0.7 percent to 10.6550 per dollar, paring its decline in 2003 to 2.7 percent, the worst performance among the 16 most widely trade currencies.

Argentina's peso rose 0.6 percent to 2.8125 per dollar, boosting its gains in 2003 to 19 percent, the second-best performance among 59 currencies tracked by Bloomberg worldwide.

Peru's new sol was little changed at 3.4825 per dollar from 3.4818 on Friday. Venezuela this year fixed its bolivar at 1,598 per dollar.

Monday, June 9, 2003 Posted: 1307 GMT ( 9:07 PM HKT)

SANTIAGO, Chile (Reuters) -- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in Chile on Sunday to meet his Latin American colleagues as a group for the first time since disagreements over the U.S. invasion of Iraq early this year.

Most Latin American countries, mindful of U.S. intervention in their region, opposed the invasion, but welcome the attention implied by Powell's attendance at the annual assembly of the Organization of American States in Santiago.

Powell will also travel to neighboring Argentina on Tuesday to meet newly elected President Nestor Kirchner, symbolically endorsing his campaign to rid the country of cronyism and corruption after economic and political turmoil.

The Bush administration came to office with promises to pay more attention to its southern neighbors, but Latin Americans, especially Mexicans, feel they have slipped down its list of priorities because of Washington's focus on Iraq, Afghanistan and President George W. Bush's "global war on terrorism."

The two Latin American U.N. Security Council members, Chile and Mexico, which did not support the U.S. quest for an explicit endorsement of its Iraq invasion, have important economic reasons for avoiding confrontation with the world's most powerful nation.

Speaking to reporters aboard his plane, Powell cited strong U.S. relations with both countries and said he did not expect the disagreement to mar ties.

"We're anxious to talk about the future and not the past and I don't see any lasting consequences," Powell said.

"After all the time and attention that we spent on Iraq, the Middle East and elsewhere, we're looking forward to once again turning our diplomatic attention to our own hemisphere."

Cuba off agenda

The annual assembly brings together the foreign ministers or other representatives of 34 countries in the Americas, and the theme this year is good governance in the region.

The OAS has kept off the agenda the question of human rights in Cuba, which has cracked down on dissidents this year, because many members say Cuba cannot defend itself at the OAS. Cuba has been excluded from OAS deliberations since 1962.

But Powell said he would discuss the situation in that country anyway.

"I will talk about Cuba rather directly, point out once again, that Cuba remains the anachronism of the hemisphere and it's not getting better," he said.

A State Department official said last week the United States expected the meeting to release a declaration reaffirming member states' commitment to good governance, including increased efficiency, probity and transparency in public administration.

The meeting will also keep up diplomatic pressure on Haiti's government to move toward democratic elections.

Venezuela, one of the Latin American countries least favorable to the Bush administration, plans to circulate a document condemning the "powerful multinational oligarchies" it says dominate the Venezuelan media.

Many dominant media organizations in Venezuela were sympathetic to the unsuccessful campaign early this year to remove populist President Hugo Chavez from office.

But the U.S. official said he doubted Venezuela could muster much support.

Monday afternoon, the ministers will prepare for a special interim Summit of the Americas expected in Mexico late this year, between the Quebec summit of 2001 and the next regular summit in Argentina in 2005.

June 9 (<a href=quote.bloomberg.com>Bloomberg) -- Brazil's currency pared early gains as investors and companies took advantage last week's rally in the real to buy dollars to pay for imports and maturing debt.

Brazil's real was unchanged at 2.8755 per dollar in Sao Paulo at 12:33 p.m. New York time. Earlier, it gained 0.7 percent to 2.8550 after rising 3.2 percent last week, the best performance of the 16 most-traded currencies. Colombia's peso rose and Mexico's peso reversed declines to rise.

Brazilian banks this Thursday must pay $550 million of foreign bonds. Of that, $300 million is owed by Banco Garantia, the Brazilian unit of Credit Suisse Group, $100 million by the Brazilian unit of Madrid-based Banco Santander SA and $150 million by Sao Paulo's Banco Votorantim SA.

``I'm hearing people say that at current levels, it's a good time to buy dollars,'' said Carlos Gandolfo, a partner at Pioneer Corretora de Cambio Ltda., a Sao Paulo currency brokerage that handles about a third of all trades in Brazil's spot market.

Brazil's benchmark 8 percent bond maturing in 2014 gained 0.25 cent to 91.88 cents on the dollar, paring the yield to 9.98 percent, according to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. The bond closed at a record high of 91.63 on Friday after earlier rising as high as 92.63 in intraday trading in New York and London.

Further declines may have been limited by investor expectations that the government will sell a foreign currency bond in the coming days.

There is a lot of maturing debt but beyond this, every week it seems we have someone else selling debt,'' said Marcel Peregrino, who helps manages about 25 million reais of bonds and stocks for Ativa SA, a Rio de Janeiro fund management company. The rumors of a Brazilian sovereign sale are also strong.''

Some of the banks paying maturing debt, such as Votorantim and Santander have already secured new finance to pay their maturing debt.

The rough balance of maturing debt and new bond sales should keep the real in the 2.85 reais to the dollar to 2.95 reais to the dollar range for the next few weeks, Peregrino said.

Colombia

Colombia's peso rose for the sixth day in seven after Finance Minister Roberto Junguito's resignation Friday led to the designation of his deputy to assume the post, allaying investor concern about continuity of economic policy.

The peso gained 0.3 percent to 2,817.5 per dollar in Bogota, and the benchmark 10 percent bond due January 2012 rose for a sixth day, adding 0.1 cent on the dollar to 114.35, paring its yield to 7.69 percent, according to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. The yield has declined from a high of 14.46 percent on Sept. 19.

President Alvaro Uribe moved quickly Friday to fill the ministry post, naming 44-year-old Deputy Finance Minister Alberto Carrasquilla, a former technical vice director at the central bank, as Junguito's successor. Carrasquilla, who said he would continue the economic policies undertaken by Junguito, will be sworn in June 20.

``It's clear the economic program is going to continue on the same track and at the same pace without skipping a beat,'' said Jose Cerritelli, an analyst at Bear, Stearns & Co.

Growth Course

Junguito, a former Colombian representative to the International Monetary Fund, was instrumental in signing a $2.1 billion, two-year standby loan accord with the IMF. He also helped push key pension, tax and labor bills through Congress aimed at cutting deficit spending and boosting growth.

Junguito felt he'd completed his mission,'' said Alvaro Camaro, head of research at Acciones y Valores SA brokerage. He got the accord with the IMF and he pushed through the key reforms.''

The government on Friday announced that industrial output, excluding coffee processing, rose 15.3 percent in March from the year-earlier month, the national statistics agency said in Bogota. Industrial sales rose 14.8 percent.

Accelerating industrial output may help the economy maintain its momentum after growing 3.8 percent in the first quarter, the biggest gain in the gross domestic product in five years.

Interest rates near historic lows have helped boost the construction industry, raising demand for metal products and other items used in building and helping create jobs.

Regional Currencies

Chile's peso fell for the fourth day in five, sliding 0.3 percent to 716.35 per dollar.

Mexico's peso reversed declines to rise for the second day in three, adding 0.4 percent to 10.6851 per dollar, paring its decline in 2003 to 3 percent, the worst performance among the 16 most widely trade currencies.

Argen4percent to 2.8175 per dollar, boosting its gains in 2003 to 19 percent, the second-best performance among 59 currencies tracked by Bloomberg worldwide.

Peru's new sol was little changed at 3.4833 per dollar. Venezuela this year fixed its bolivar at 1,598 per dollar.

<a href=www.falkland-malvinas.com>Mercosur Press Sunday, 08 June

The OAS general assembly in Santiago de Chile will be the scenario for another round of United States-Brazil talks, in anticipation of Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s official visit to Washington.

According to the Brazilian Foreign Affairs Ministry, Brazilian Minister Celso Amorim will be holding talks with his United States counterpart Colin Powell, particularly regarding the Free Trade Association of the Americas, FTAA, currently presided by United States and Brazil, and scheduled to become effective in 2005.

At the end of May US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick visited Brazil expecting to speed FTAA talks and meeting President Lula da Silva.

He was unable to meet the President and Mr. Amorim said that “even when Brazil will not abandon the FTAA project, it’s not in a hurry to implement the association since the country has other priority urgencies”.

One of those urgencies is strengthening Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay), and another ensuring that the disparity in development of the economies involved in a future FTAA are considered previously.

Nevertheless Mr. Zoellick in Brasilia expressed his optimism about the FTAA 2005 timetable.

While in Santiago Mr. Amorim is expected to hold talks with his counterparts from Mercosur, associate members Chile and Bolivia, Canada and the Andean Community of Nations, CAN, that includes Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela and which Brazil is anxious to integrate to Mercosur creating a only South American block.

Sun June 8, 2003 10:38 AM ET By Jonathan Wright

WASHINGTON (<a href=reuters.com>Reuters) - Secretary of State Colin Powell left for Chile on Sunday to meet his Latin American colleagues as a group for the first time since disagreements over the U.S. invasion of Iraq early this year.

Most Latin American countries, mindful of U.S. intervention in their region, opposed the invasion, but welcome the attention implied by Powell's attendance at the annual assembly of the Organization of American States in Santiago.

Powell will also travel to neighboring Argentina on Tuesday to meet newly elected President Nestor Kirchner, symbolically endorsing his campaign to rid the country of cronyism and corruption after economic and political turmoil.

The Bush administration came to office with promises to pay more attention to its southern neighbors, but Latin Americans, especially Mexicans, feel they have slipped down its list of priorities because of Washington's focus on Iraq, Afghanistan and President Bush's "global war on terrorism."

The two Latin American U.N. Security Council members, Chile and Mexico, which did not support the U.S. quest for an explicit endorsement of its Iraq invasion, have important economic reasons for avoiding confrontation with the world's most powerful nation.

A senior State Department official said last week that the United States and opponents of the Iraq war had agreed to disagree.

"We are not dwelling on that (Iraq). We have a very full, constructive agenda on other issues," he said.

"You are seeing an intensified focus by the United States on the region and I think that will be a welcome development for most of our friends in the Americas," added the official, who asked not to be named.

CUBA OFF AGENDA

The annual assembly brings together the foreign ministers or other representatives of 34 countries in the Americas, and the theme this year is good governance in the region.

The OAS has kept off the agenda the question of human rights in Cuba, which has cracked down on dissidents this year, because many members say Cuba cannot defend itself at the OAS. Cuba has been excluded from OAS deliberations since 1962.

The senior U.S. official said the United States expected the meeting to release a declaration reaffirming member states' commitment to good governance, including increased efficiency, probity and transparency in public administration.

"We'll call for the elimination of social exclusion and the promotion of sound public policies that promote equal opportunity, education, health, full employment and the eradication of poverty and malnutrition," he added.

The meeting will also keep up diplomatic pressure on Haiti's government to move toward democratic elections.

Venezuela, one of the Latin American countries least favorable to the Bush administration, plans to circulate a document condemning the "powerful multinational oligarchies" it says dominate the Venezuelan media.

Many dominant media organizations in Venezuela were sympathetic to the unsuccessful campaign early this year to remove populist President Hugo Chavez from office.

But the U.S. official said he doubted Venezuela could muster much support.

"By and large, I think most people recognize that an unfettered press is absolutely essential to a democratic system," he said.

On Monday afternoon, the ministers will prepare for a special interim Summit of the Americas expected in Mexico late this year, between the Quebec summit of 2001 and the next regular summit in Argentina in 2005.