Brazil and Paraguay's rejection to Venezuela holding the Mercosur rotating chair sounds much like a desperate attitude, but nevertheless it is unpostponable, said Venezuela foreign minister Delcy Rodríguez: ”it is impossible that the compliance of the (Mercosur) treaty can't be respected”.
Uruguay made public on Friday a letter sent to Mercosur fellow full members stating the finalization, this Saturday 30 July, of its six-month presidency of the group, which means the rotating chair should be transferred to Venezuela. The letter was accompanied by a 32 page report of its six-month as chair of the group, particularly intense because of the trade negotiations with the European Union.
Brazilian interim president Michel Temer laid out the steps Venezuela must comply with before it is confirmed as full member of Mercosur, and following on that can effectively become chair of the group. Temer's Friday statement makes clear Brazil's position in the ongoing controversy regarding Venezuela's aspiration to succeed Uruguay in the rotating chair.
Pedro Pablo Kuczynski took office as Peru's president on Thursday, asking the opposition-controlled Congress to help him fight income inequality and ensure all Peruvians have access to running water, health care and free primary education.
The Uruguayan government announced on Thursday it will not fund the return trip or to Turkey or any third country, of former Guantanamo prisoner, Jihad Ahmad Dhiab who went missing for over a month and this week turned up at the Uruguayan consulate in Caracas, Venezuela.
King Felipe VI is concerned with Spain's political paralysis, a lawmaker who met him said as the monarch began a fourth round of talks with party representatives to try and agree on a government. Spain has been without a fully-functioning government for seven months after December elections failed to give any party an absolute parliamentary majority.
The United States Federal Reserve on Thursday left key interest rates untouched but acknowledged improved economic performance, suggesting a rate increase may be on the horizon in 2016.
Despite objections from Brazil and Paraguay, Uruguay next Saturday 30 July will transfer to Venezuela the rotating chair of Mercosur for the second half of the year, as indicated in the “group's rules and regulations”.
Pedro Pablo Kuczynski takes office as Peru's presidency this Thursday with a Cabinet that shares his Ivy League, pro-business pedigree — a reliance on technocrats that could become a liability as he deals with an unfriendly congress, a resurgent left and environment aware peasants and indigenous peoples living on rich natural resources.
The recently appointed UK Foreign Office Permanent Under Secretary and Head of the Diplomatic Service Sir Simon McDonald was received this week at the Argentine foreign ministry where he met with Deputy minister Carlos Foradori, and one of the several issues addressed was the forensic actions to help identify Argentine combatants buried at the Darwin cemetery, according to a release from Palacio San Martin.