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> Lula puts Brazil economy ahead of Amazon [nN14517777]
> Farmers press offer in Argentine farm strike [nN14284480]
> Mexico group warns tortilla prices set to jump [nN14514279]
> Food prices center stage at EU-Latin America summit[nN14439541]
> Merkel says Brazilian biofuels must respect Amazon [nN14501926]
> Chile volcano shuts town for three months [nN1440848]
> Venezuela's Chavez 'anxious' for better U.S. ties [nN14514199]
> Colombian extraditions seen aiding US trade deal [nN14502101]
> Petrobras Brazil oil output rises in April [nN14506298]
> Grim Brazilian drama opens Cannes film festival [nL1424199]
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Keywords: *TOP NEWS* Latin America
* Argentine bonds down awaiting farmers' negotiation offer
* Venezuela up as Chavez "anxious" for better US ties
* Chile affirmed by Fitch "A" with positive outlook
By Manuela Badawy
NEW YORK, May 14 (Reuters) - Argentine sovereign bonds fell on Wednesday as investors awaited news from a farmers strike that has crippled the economy and has raised supply fears of global markets.
Argentine Discount bonds due to mature in 2033 <ARGGLB33=RR> fell 1.312 percentage points to bid 79.938 as investors waited to see if the Argentine government offered to negotiate with the farm leaders.
On Tuesday a farm leader offered to lift the protest for 24 hours if the government agreed, but said the strike, on its sixth day, could be extended if there is no agreement.
Farmers in Argentina, a leading exporter of soy, wheat and corn, are locked in a two-month standoff with the government over a new sliding-scale export tax that farmers say effectively caps prices for their goods. Argentina accounts for nearly 3.0 percent of world food exports.
Meanwhile, Venezuelan bonds bounced on reports that its president Hugo Chavez said was "anxious" to improve relations with the next U.S. president.
Venezuela's sovereign bond due in 2034 <VENGLB34=RR> rose 1.500 percentage points on the news, to bid 84.500 and to yield 11.224 percent.
"This mildly counters the negatives of the last few days where there's been increased references of the link Chavez/FARC, which puts pressure on the US to dub Venezuela a state supporter of terrorism," said Enrique Alvarez, head of emerging market strategy at IDEAglobal.
Chavez, who has called U.S. President George W. Bush "the devil" and "Mr Danger", accuses the United States of having imperial designs in Latin America and says the White House plotted his overthrow.
Chile, on the other hand, had its credit rating affirmed by Fitch with a positive outlook, despite mounting inflation pressures and some economic deceleration, signaling that it may upgrade the country's ratings if those problems are addressed.
Fitch currently rates Chile's sovereign bonds at "A".
The agency said a rating upgrade is still possible depending on the "effectiveness of the monetary and fiscal policy response" to those macroeconomic challenges.
It also stressed that fiscal and external indicators have strengthened since its last review.
Chile's inflation reached 7.8 percent last year, well above the central bank's target of 3 percent.
"Chile still stands out in the region as a very well managed economy and despite the recent policy challenges and unfortunate negative shocks its policies are still seen as the reference or standard it terms of conventional, forward-looking, and orthodox policy making," Alberto Ramos, senior economist at Goldman Sachs said in a research note.
((manuela.badawy@reuters.com; +1 646-223-6055; Reuters Messaging: manuela.badawy.reuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: MARKETS EMERGINGDEBT/
SANTIAGO, May 14 (Reuters) - Chile's town of Chaiten, until recently home to 4,500 people, will be shut for three months until it is no longer endangered by a cloud of hot ash from an erupting volcano, the government said on Wednesday.
The Chaiten volcano, six miles (10 km) from the town, started erupting on May 2 for the first time in thousands of years, spewing ash, gas and molten rock high into the air.
The cloud of debris, kept aloft by the pressure of constant eruptions, could collapse and smother the nearby ghost town.
"The president has established a three-month period under which the ground zero area will be maintained isolated," Defense Minister Jose Goni told reporters.
The column of ash above Chaiten soared as high as 20 miles (32 km) early in the eruption, but has now fallen back to about 4.5 miles (7 km).
Thousands of people have been evacuated from within a 30-mile (48 km) radius of the Chaiten volcano, 760 miles (1,220 km) south of the capital Santiago.
Satellite images show a white stripe smeared across the southern part of South America. Much of the ash carried into neighboring Argentina, where some towns have also been submerged in ash.
Chile's chain of some 2,000 volcanoes - 500 of them potentially active - is the world's second-largest after Indonesia. (Reporting by Bianca Frigiani, Writing by Pav Jordan, editing by Alan Elsner) ((pav.jordan@thomsonreuters.com; +562 370 4250; Reuters Messaging: pawel.jordan.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: CHILE VOLCANO/
SANTIAGO, May 14 (Reuters) - Chilean stocks traded higher in afternoon trade on Wednesday breaking a seven-session slump, after milder-than-expected U.S. inflation, while the peso eased against the dollar.
The all-market IGPA index <.IGPA> traded 0.69 percent higher at 13,746 points, while the blue-chip IPSA index <.IPSA> advanced 0.90 percent to 2,922 points.
Wall Street rose on Wednesday after U.S. government data showed consumer prices rose less than expected in April, taking pressure off the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates.
"U.S. inflation -- the number everyone was waiting for -- was lower than expected," said Paulina Barahona, an analyst with the Tanner brokerage. "After seven straight days of decline, it helped local investors be a bit more optimistic."
Of Chile's 40 blue-chip stocks, 28 traded higher in afternoon trade, nine traded lower and three were unchanged. Gains were led by electric utilities and retailers.
Leading electric generator Endesa Chile <END.SN> gained 0.97 percent, while No. 2 generator Colbun surged 3.14 percent.
Retail-sector gains included regional giant Cencosud <CEN.SN>, up 1.56 percent, and domestic supermarket chain D&S <DIS.SN>, with an advance of 1.4 percent.
Other advancing shares included steelmaker and iron ore exporter CAP <CAP.SN>, whose shares rose 2.22 percent.
The Chilean peso <CHILJ> <CLP=CL> edged 0.19 percent lower to close at 468.00/468.30 per dollar compared with Tuesday's close at 467.10/467.40.
The central bank on Wednesday continued with its daily purchase of $50 million on the currency exchange as part of an $8 billion intervention to curb the strength of the peso against the greenback. (Reporting by Manuel Farias; Writing by Lisa Yulkowski; Editing by Jonathan Oatis) ((lisa.yulkowski@reuters.com; +56-2-370-4290)) Keywords: MARKETS CHILE/
(makes official, adds team standings)
May 14 (Reuters) - Official standings after the 203-km fifth
stage of the Giro d'Italia from Belvedere Marittimo to Contursi
on Wednesday
Overall
1. Franco Pellizotti (Italy / Liquigas ) 21hrs 46mins 49secs
2. Christian Vande Velde (U.S. / Slipstream ) +1 sec
3. Danilo Di Luca (Italy / Team LPR ) +7"
4. Morris Possoni (Italy / High Road ) +8"
5. Vincenzo Nibali (Italy / Liquigas )
6. Nicki Sorensen (Denmark / Team CSC ) +17"
7. Kanstantin Sivtsov (Belarus / High Road ) +18"
8. Paolo Savoldelli (Italy / Team LPR ) +19"
9. Andrea Noe (Italy / Liquigas ) +22"
10. Enrico Gasparotto (Italy / Barloworld ) +25"
11. Francesco Bellotti (Italy / Barloworld )
12. Gustav Erik Larsson (Sweden / Team CSC ) +28"
13. Andreas Kloeden (Germany / Astana )
14. Christian Pfannberger (Austria / Barloworld )
15. Marco Pinotti (Italy / High Road ) +29"
16. Alberto Contador (Spain / Astana ) +30"
17. Riccardo Ricco (Italy / Saunier Duval ) +33"
18. Davide Rebellin (Italy / Gerolsteiner ) +37"
19. Daniele Pietropolli (Italy / Team LPR ) +39"
20. Gabriele Bosisio (Italy / Team LPR )
21. Levi Leipheimer (U.S. / Astana ) +40"
22. Juan Manuel Garate (Spain / Quick-Step ) +43"
23. Luca Mazzanti (Italy / Tinkoff ) +44"
24. Chris Sorensen (Denmark / Team CSC )
25. Joaquim Rodriguez (Spain / Caisse d'Epargne ) +45"
26. Marzio Bruseghin (Italy / Lampre ) +46"
27. Antonio Colom (Spain / Astana ) +51"
28. Andrey Mizourov (Kazakhstan / Astana )
29. Andrea Tonti (Italy / Quick-Step ) +53"
30. Daniele Bennati (Italy / Liquigas ) +54"
Points
1. Daniele Bennati (Italy / Liquigas ) 46
2. Riccardo Ricco (Italy / Saunier Duval ) 34
3. Pavel Brutt (Russia / Tinkoff ) 33
4. Mark Cavendish (Britain / High Road ) 32
5. Erik Zabel (Germany / Milram ) 30
6. Johannes Froehlinger (Germany / Gerolsteiner ) 26
7. Robert Foerster (Germany / Gerolsteiner ) 24
8. Franco Pellizotti (Italy / Liquigas ) 22
9. Danilo Di Luca (Italy / Team LPR ) 20
10. Paolo Bettini (Italy / Quick-Step ) 19
King of the mountains
1. Emanuele Sella (Italy / CSF Group ) 9 points
2. Daniele Pietropolli (Italy / Team LPR ) 5
3. Luis Felipe Laverde (Colombia / CSF Group ) 3
4. David Loosli (Switzerland / Lampre ) 3
5. Rik Verbrugghe (Belgium / Cofidis ) 3
6. Felix Cardenas (Colombia / Barloworld ) 3
7. Francisco Perez (Spain / Caisse d'Epargne ) 2
8. Jeremy Roy (France / Francaise des Jeux ) 2
9. Johannes Froehlinger (Germany / Gerolsteiner ) 1
10. Fortunato Baliani (Italy / CSF Group ) 1
Team
1. Liquigas 64hrs 27mins 33secs
2. Team LPR +11secs
3. Astana +30"
4. High Road +31"
5. Barloworld +37"
6. Saunier Duval +53"
7. Team CSC +56"
8. Tinkoff +1:03"
9. Caisse d'Epargne +1:05"
10. Quick-Step +1:09"
(Compiled by Infostrada Sports; Editing by Tom Pilcher)
((tom.pilcher@reuters.com; + 44 207 542 3378 Reuters Messaging:
tom.pilcher.reuters.com@reuters.net; For the latest Reuters
Premier League and international football news see:
http://football.uk.reuters.com/))
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