
Despite opposition protests demanding a ballot recount, congratulations are pouring in for Venezuela’s proclaimed President Nicolas Maduro: Brazil, Argentina, Russia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Cuba, Unasur, although the OAS and the US have adopted a more cautious attitude.

Venezuela's election authority on Monday formally proclaimed Nicolas Maduro the winner of Sunday's presidential vote, despite insistence by the opposition that the ceremony be suspended until a complete recount of votes was carried out given the very tight result.

Relations inside the Uruguayan cabinet remain tense with some ministers in non-talking terms even when President Jose Mujica cancelled the Monday full ministerial turnout for three specific areas, security, social affairs and production meetings, which function every two weeks.

Denouncing election irregularities, Venezuelan opposition candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski demanded a recount and said early Monday that he will not recognize the country's presidential results ”until every vote is counted”. His comments came less than an hour after officials said the man former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez handpicked to be his successor had won the country's presidential vote.

Following five hours of a long recount process Venezuela’s National Electoral Council announced early Monday morning that acting president Nicolas Maduro is the new head of state, having defeated Henrique Capriles by less than a two percentage point difference.

Uruguay’s Deputy Foreign minister Roberto Conde is scheduled to travel to Buenos Aires this week as part of President Jose Mujica’s administration efforts to rebuild bilateral relations with Argentina following his ‘coarse, jail-slang’ descriptions of president Cristina Fernandez and her late husband Nestor Kirchner, which were refuted as ‘unacceptable and denigrating”.

Former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet was proclaimed as pre-candidate for the coming presidential elections next November 17 during a political rally in Santiago organized by the Socialists and the Party for Democracy (PPD).

The way the Falkland Islands have developed into a self governing and self financing country and the recent referendum with its strong message, attracted genuine attention of another two countries visited by a Falklands’ delegation.

In his closing massive campaign rally in Caracas, Thursday evening incumbent candidate Nicolas Maduro pledged that next Sunday he will win the Venezuelan presidential election and later will take over the presidency of Mercosur.

“My deepest apologies to those whom I might have hurt with my words in recent days” said Uruguayan president Jose Mujica in his daily broadcast on Thursday, the first public apology for the controversial expressions he used last week to refer to Argentine president Cristina Fernandez and her late husband Nestor Kirchner.