
The European Commission remains “on hold” waiting for the evolution of events in Mercosur with the incorporation of Venezuela as full member and the suspension of Paraguay, before addressing a new round of association and trade negotiations.

Following the strong unanimous support from Latin America approved by OAS, Ecuador will resume talks with the UK over the future of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange currently holed in at the Ecuadorean embassy in London, announced on Monday the country’s Foreign minister, Ricardo Patiño.

The OAS, Organization of American States, cabinet chief and head of political affairs are expected in Paraguay to continue with the organization’s mandate of establishing an electoral committee and helping with the process of strengthening democracy in the country.

The Peruvian anti-terrorist Attorney General Office said that civil compensation to the tune of 1.4 billion dollars with be collected from members of the guerrilla groups Shinning Path and the leaders of Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, MRTA.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has confirmed his government is holding exploratory talks with the country's largest rebel group, the FARC. In an address on state TV, Mr Santos said he was fulfilling his duty to seek peace. Media reports say a deal on further talks was reached in Cuba with the help of Venezuela and Norway.

Brazil's defence industry is booming, fuelled by government incentives to modernize the country's armed forces and develop a robust, export-oriented military industrial complex. With the world's sixth largest economy, Brazil was ranked as the eighth largest arms exporter in the 1980s but currently languishes in 30th place, according to industry experts

Colombia's government will soon begin talks that could lead to formal negotiations for peace with the country's biggest guerrilla group, known as the FARC, according to a Colombian intelligence source.

Argentina’s nationalized oil and gas company YPF and the head of Latin American and African operations for Chevron Corp. are discussing a potential agreement to develop the massive Vaca Muerta shale oil and gas formation in the Patagonian province of Neuquén.

Following similar complaints against Argentina by the European Union, United States and Japan, Mexico has launched its first dispute against Argentina at the World Trade Organization, the WTO announced on Monday.

The Foreign Ministers of the Organization of American States (OAS) approved last Friday a resolution supporting the inviolability of diplomatic premises, in accordance with the provisions of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, in the context of the situation created between Ecuador and the United Kingdom.