
Bolivia will begin the coming year formal talks for full membership of Mercosur, for which it has the support from Uruguay, said diplomatic sources from both countries, Bolivian Deputy Foreign minister Juan Carlos Alurralde met with his Uruguayan counterpart Roberto Conde in the framework of the “Bolivia-Uruguay coordination and consultation mechanism” sixth meeting in La Paz.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos rejected a proposal on Thursday by FARC rebels for a bilateral ceasefire during talks next month aimed at bringing an end to half a century of war.

The Argentine blockade can’t stop the Falkland Islands and “if Argentina believes that these aggressions are going to change the mind and spirit of the Islanders, they are dead wrong, much on the contrary”, said Falklands’ lawmakers currently visiting Guatemala on a tour of Central America and Mexico.

After UK government cabinet reshuffle which confirmed Foreign Secretary William Hague and Secretary of Defence, Philip Hammond, the Falkland Islands and Latin America become the responsibility of Minister of State Hugo Swire MP until now Minister of State for the Northern Ireland Office. The new ministerial teams and their portfolios are as follows.

Brazilian Foreign minister Antonio Patriota strongly defended the decision to suspend Paraguay from Mercosur following the removal of Fernando Lugo from the presidency, as well as the incorporation of Venezuela as full member of the trade group.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday became the latest senior official to insist there is no evidence of an alleged massacre of some 80 Yanomami indigenous people.

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza offered a positive balance of governance in Latinamerica and the performance of the region’s economy, in general, during the last twelve months.

The Chilean central bank raised its forecast for economic growth this year to between 4.75% and 5.25% (from 4% to 5%), adding that it expects GDP to expand 4% to 5% in 2013.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos unveiled on Wednesday a six-man team to negotiate with FARC rebels in the hope of ending almost 50 years of internal war.

Politicians and opinion formers are genuinely interested to hear about the Falkland Islands and plans for the coming referendum said lawmakers from the Islands who recently participated at the Parlamericas, (Parliamentarians for the Americas) conference in Panama City (*).