Mercosur

• Thursday, July 18th 2013 - 09:08 UTC

  President-elect demands rule of the law before Paraguay returns as active Mercosur member

  

  Paraguayan president elect Horacio Cartes confirmed that his government will insist in its position regarding Mercosur, which expects Paraguay to return as full active member following the inauguration ceremony 15 August.

• Thursday, July 18th 2013 - 08:26 UTC

  Venezuelan parliament approves incorporation of Bolivia to Mercosur as full member

  

  The Venezuelan parliament approved Bolivia’s protocol of adherence to Mercosur as full member thus clearing the way for the landlocked mostly indigenous populated country to become the sixth member of the South American trade block next to Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela.

• Wednesday, July 17th 2013 - 07:50 UTC

  Brazil downplays the Pacific Alliance significance, as an “integration project”

  

  Brazilian Foreign minister Antonio Patriota downplayed the significance of the Alliance of the Pacific, the free trade agreement which includes Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico, arguing it is not a “real deep integration” as the one proposed by Mercosur.

• Wednesday, July 17th 2013 - 07:16 UTC

  Brazilian lawmaker blasts ‘unnecessary hostility and arrogance’ towards Paraguay

  

  An influential member of Congress from south Brazil strongly criticized his country’s foreign policy towards Paraguay and Mercosur condemning the ‘unnecessary hostility’ and for abandoning legitimate interests and basic principles for an ‘ideological affinity solidarity’.

• Tuesday, July 16th 2013 - 17:15 UTC

  Uruguay presses for EU/Mercosur talks fearing loss of tariff benefits

  

  Uruguay needs a quick resumption of Mercosur/European Union trade and cooperation talks because at the end of the year expire a number of tariff benefits for Uruguayan exports, revealed Foreign minister Luis Almagro.

• Tuesday, July 16th 2013 - 17:10 UTC

  Argentina has dealt a ‘mortal blow’ to Mercosur that has become ‘a political forum’

  

  Speaking for a Brazilian business association in Sao Paulo, Rubén Barbosa accused the government of Argentina of dealing a ‘mortal blow’ to Mercosur, the regional grouping that was originally focused on economic integration and has since become a political forum for the region’s leaders as was again evident during the last summit in Montevideo.

• Tuesday, July 16th 2013 - 05:48 UTC

  Brazil expects president-elect Cartes accepts the return of Paraguay to Mercosur

  

  Brazil Foreign minister Antonio Patriota said he expects that Paraguay president-elect Horacio Cartes will accept the return to Mercosur following his taking office ceremony scheduled for next August 15.

• Tuesday, July 16th 2013 - 05:45 UTC

  Paraguay will hold Mercosur presidency in the first half of 2014, says Uruguay

  

  Paraguay will hold the rotating chair of Mercosur after Venezuela, at the end of this year, which will mark the full active comeback of the country to the regional block, announced Uruguay’s Foreign minister Luis Almagro on Monday in Montevideo.

• Monday, July 15th 2013 - 22:42 UTC

  Brazilian official regrets Paraguay did not follow the path of Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia

  

  Brazilian international affairs advisor Marco Aurelio Garcia admits the incorporation of Venezuela to Mercosur was done without Paraguay’s approval and argues the downfall of Fernando Lugo was because of his political incapacity to follow on the steps of other countries with strong popular support such as Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador

• Monday, July 15th 2013 - 21:15 UTC

  Former Brazilian official blasts his country policy towards Paraguay as ‘arbitrary, illegal and incompetent”

  

  Brazil’s former Foreign minister Celso Lafer said that Paraguay was ‘arbitrarily’ excluded from Mercosur with a sanction that is not in conformity with the group’s charter and warned Brazil is losing international credibility in supporting Paraguay’s suspension because it is distancing itself from International law.