Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner vowed on Saturday to sustain the current economic model which has spurred the greatest growth in a century and if this year confirms the current expansion rate, in Argentina's history.
The bi-lateralization of Argentine-Brazilian relations and the incorporation of Venezuela are factors grinding the basic structure of Mercosur, said Uruguay's former president Julio Maria Sanguinetti during a recent visit to Paraguay.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez ordered on Sunday the militarization of the border with Colombia and the closing of Venezuela's embassy in Bogotá a day after Colombian troops in an incursion in Ecuadorian territory killed FARC rebel group number 2, an action he described as a cowardly murder.
The killing of a Colombian guerrilla leader by Colombian forces in Ecuadorian territory and the alleged discovery of documents linking the rebel group with the governments of Ecuador and Venezuela has pushed South America closer to an armed conflict.
The Rio Group of Latinamerican countries created in the eighties to help pacify and stabilize Central America and which had lately fallen into obscurity, could play a crucial role in the Colombia-Ecuador-Venezuela conflict when it meets this week in Santo Domingo.
Venezuelan scientists and military officers traveling on a Uruguayan naval research ship reached the Antarctic peninsula over the weekend following a 15-day, 3.700 kilometers voyage. This is the first time a Venezuelan team officially takes part in Antarctic navigation and research.
Uruguayan president Tabare Vazquez on the third anniversary of his administration completed the reshuffling of the cabinet in preparation for the 2009 electoral year.