Argentina suffered a stinging blow late Wednesday when New York federal judge Thomas Griesa, citing threats by the country's leaders to defy his rulings in a decade-old dispute over defaulted sovereign bonds, ordered immediate payment.
Bolivia was formally invited to join Mercosur as a full member for which negotiations can begin in the coming summit December 7 in Brasilia. The invitation was made official by Mercosur High Commissioner Ivan Ramalho during a visit to La Paz where the met with Foreign minister David Choquehuanca and Economy and Planning ministers Luis Arce and Viviana Caro.
Chile has re-opened its market to Paraguayan beef announced on Tuesday to his peers Sixto Miranda, head of the country’s Rural Society, following a meeting with Foreign Minister Jose Fernandez Estigarribia.
Colombia rejected the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) decision on the dispute with Nicaragua which recognized Colombian sovereignty over the disputed San Andrés islands but extended Nicaragua’s maritime space surrounding the islands.
Another gap is anticipated in the diplomatic isolation ring imposed on Paraguay by Unasur and Mercosur, when as happened with Chile and Colombia, the Peruvian ambassador also returns to his post in Asuncion after several months of consultations in Lima.
Colombian Minister of Defence Juan Carlos Pinzón said that security forces will continue with military operations in the country despite the unilateral two-month cease fire declared by the guerrilla group FARC, which becomes effective Monday 24:00 hours.
Latin America pledged investment opportunities for recession-hit Spanish and Portuguese companies but warned its former colonial masters drastic cost cutting would only deepen their misery.
Spain and Portugal sought help from their former Latin American colonies to rescue them from economic crisis through a new wave of trade and investment across the Atlantic Ocean.
Spanish President Mariano Rajoy stated that he “would have liked” his Argentine counterpart, President Cristina Fernández to have attended the XXIIth Ibero-American summit, starting Friday in Cádiz.
The XXII Ibero-American summit which takes off Friday in the city of Cadiz will be focused on the Euro zone crisis and the need to boost investments in Latin America of which Spain can become the “vertebrate axis” said Spanish Foreign minister Jose García Margallo.