Uruguay filed a shelf registration with the US Securities and Exchange committee to sell up to 5 billion in US denominated securities. Economy minister Fernando Lorenzo said the filing will allow the government to issue debt when it is convenient for the country and market conditions are favourable.
The charismatic leader of Chilean students’ massive protests for free and accessible education, Camila Vallejo launched this week her bid for Congress at the coming general elections next November with the Communist party.
Mercosur leaders agreed on Friday to call home for consultation their ambassadors to Spain, France, Italy and Portugal to protest last week's forced diversion of the Bolivian president's aircraft. They also strongly defended their right to offer asylum Friday, venting anger at claims of US spying in the region while intelligence leaker Edward Snowden's fate hangs in the balance.
“Mercosur has closed its doors to Paraguay and it’s not good for Latinamerican integration”, was the first reaction from Asuncion after the group announced the presidency for Venezuela and lifting the suspension of Paraguay next 15 August.
Uruguay Vice-president Danilo Astori said that belonging to Mercosur and the Alliance of the Pacific is ‘not incompatible’ and called on the ‘powerful members’ of Mercosur to support an agreement with the Pacific Alliance of which Uruguay and Paraguay are already observers.
Protesters disrupted traffic in the Chilean capital and blocked access to mining operations Thursday as part of a national strike called by the country's main labor federation.
The Mercosur social summit questioned any possible approach to the Alliance of the Pacific since it is an organization entirely dedicated to trade which would distract the Southern Cone countries from their social objectives.
Suriname and Guyana signed on Thursday the protocols to become associate members of Mercosur which is currently holding its mid year summit in Montevideo. This means all South American countries are now part of Mercosur.
A pregnant 11-year-old Chilean girl who was allegedly raped by her stepfather should be granted all medical options, including the right to abort, rights group Amnesty International said on Thursday. The pregnancy of 'Belen,' as she is known has sparked an outcry in one of South America’s most conservative countries, where abortion is banned under all circumstances.
President-elect Horacio Cartes will not make any comments on the ongoing dispute of Paraguay with Mercosur until after the group’s summit in Uruguay next Friday, when official decisions on the subject are expected to be made public. However for both sides any decision will most probably be challenging and ratify that Mercosur has become a political group far from its original trade and investment purposes.