And the winners (so far) are (drumroll please...)

Great news! Latin Trade has so far won two ASBPE awards!

Jorge Fernando Garretón, Paulo Prada and News Editor Forrest Jones were recognized for "A Royal Mess," the story they collaborated on for the June 2005 issue on how rising mineral and oil prices are causing governments across the region to rewrite their rules on what foreign companies must pay to extract commodities.

Jack "Silicon Jack" Epstein was recognized (his fourth award in five years) for the May and October columns. We're considering getting an extra wall added to his cubicle at the San Francisco Chronicle just for plaques.

That's 18 awards in five years. Congratulations to all of the editorial, design and research folks for a job well done, as well as to our valuable correspondents. Next year, we'll be entering Web site competitions, in addition to trying to expand our entries.

We may well win in more categories and perhaps under different awards programs. We'll know more in the coming two months about any pending ASBPE recognitions.

Great job!