News January - February - March - April 2005 - Orihuela Legal - Legal assistance with cross border transactions throughout Latin America, Europe and the US.

JANUARY - FEBRUARY - MARCH - APRIL 2005

Consideran que marco legal venezolano traba inversión europea
(29 Abril, 2005) Todos los Derechos Reservados a UNIONRADIO.Net
http://www.unionradio.com.ve/Noticias/Noticia.aspx?noticiaid=135852

Un medio de prensa venezolano, a traves de una conversación con un funcionario representante de la Comisión Europea, señalo que los recientes aumentos tributarios y cambios en convenios cooperativos, así como la revisión de contratos de inversión en industrias mineras y de aluminio en Venezuela han causado sorpresa a los inversionistas extranjeros.

FOCUS: South America Mining Industry Sees Investment Boom
(April 26, 2005) Intellectual Property Rights and All Rights reserved to The Dow Jones & Company Inc.(2005); and All Rights reserved to Yahoo! Pte Ltd.(2005).
http://sg.biz.yahoo.com/050425/15/3s5a1.html

According to an article published by Dow Jones, new mining projects in Argentina, Chile and Peru have turned the Latin zone into an actual promise for big mining investors. Some local experts consulted for this report indicated that these countries expect investments for $4.5 billion in Argentina, and $10 billion each in both Chile and Peru, over the next five or six years. Perhaps a mix of mining laws and lower labor costs can be attributable to it. In addition, increasing efforts to prevent concerns over environmental and social issues may also be responsible for the investment boom.

OPEC spare capacity to keep pace with requirements in 2005
(April 15, 2005) Intellectual Property Rights and All Rights reserved to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
http://www.opec.org/home/Special%20Features/2005/fea041505.htm

According to the last OPEC Monthly Oil Market Report, the Member Countries production should be “more than adequate” for projected requirements. The perspective provided by the supply and demand balance for 2005 indicates an average difference of 29.1 mb/d of demand over supply, compared to 29.0 mb/d from the previous monthly report.

Phelps Dodge Corp.
(March 30, 2005) Intellectual Property Rights and All Rights reserved to Infomine.com
http://www.infomine.com/news/headline/welcome.asp?NewsID=52885

According to some reports, the US copper miner Phelps Dodge will require investment of up to US$2.65 billion by 2011, of which USD1.6 billion is destined for two expansions in South America.

Buscan garantizar el gas natural a industrias de Mendoza y San Juan
(31 de Marzo, 2005) Todos los Derechos Reservados de Portal Minero
http://www.portalminero.com/noti/noticias_ver_ch.php?codigo=1655&fecha=03

En Argentina, la Secretaría de Minería de la Nación dispuso el redireccionamiento de gas natural para las industrias de San Juan y Mendoza, motivando el trabajo conjunto con CTM e YPF. Con esto, Argentina continúa una línea iniciada hace un mes con el convenio entre la Secretaría de Minería de la Nación y Repsol YPF para garantizar el suministro de carbón residual de petróleo para productores.

Big mining and its increasingly radical opponents
(February 3rd, 2005) Copyright and all rights reserved to The Economist Newspaper Limited 2005.
http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3627092

A wide review of some protests against mining in Peru –which has tripled its mining incomes since 1992- reflects that genuine grievance is usually mixed with ignorant fears from the community. The last main protest, focused on Yanacocha, a gold mine in Cajamarca, pointed the environmental impact and the alleged lack of benefits for local people as the main problems to be solved.

El Editorial de la edición 304 de Panorama Minero presenta una acertada reflexión en torno al panorama actual de la minería en algunos países de América Latina, resaltando que, a la fecha, la demanda internacional de minerales supera la oferta, por lo que es el momento de intensificar labores de exploración y la búsqueda de nuevos prospectos mineros.

Entrevista con Luis Cardenal, Ministro de Turismo de La República de El Salvador.
(26 de enero, 2005) Todos los Derechos Reservados de World Investment News Ltd.
http://www.winne.com/america/el_salvador/topinterviews/2005/luis_cardenal.php

Con motivo de la relativamente reciente creación del Ministerio de Turismo de El Salvador, se expone el panorama del turismo y la industria hotelera en este país, así como la política de incentivos para la inversión privada extranjera en ese país.