
Mercosur partners’ sanctions on Paraguay rather benefited than hindered the country, said President Federico Franco during a press conference in which he underlined the country had become more reliable and this was supported by a three fold increase in foreign investments.

President elect Horacio Cartes revealed in Spain that Paraguay is claiming the pro-tempore chair of Mercosur, argued that Venezuela is an ‘illegitimate’ member of the trade group and said Paraguay is en route to becoming full member of the Pacific Alliance.

Bolivia will join Mercosur without abandoning the Andean Community and will continue with negotiations for a cooperation and trade agreement with the European Union, announced in La Paz the Foreign ministers from Bolivia, David Choquehuanca and Luis Almagro from Uruguay which currently holds the group’s chair.

Suspended Paraguay will not return to Mercosur trampling on the institutions of the country or from the group, warned president-elect Horacio Cartes during an event at the Paraguay-US Chamber of Commerce. He emphasized that if there is no respect or abidance by the rule of the law, “we will remain as we are”.

The Pacific Alliance is a ‘marketing success’ and does not represent a concern for Mercosur since it does not have the potential for physical integration as other blocks from the region, said Brazilian Foreign minister Antonio Patriota during a congressional hearing this week in Brasilia.

Paraguayan president elect Horacio Cartes held a meeting on Friday at his home with former Chilean president Ricardo Lagos and the Ibero-American secretary general Enrique Iglesias to talk “about Mercosur issues and Paraguay’s suspension from the block”, according to sources close to the meeting.

Brazilian Foreign minister Antonio Patriota confirmed on Thursday that Paraguay’s suspension from Mercosur will be in the agenda of the coming presidential summit, next 12 July in Montevideo.

One of Mercosur ‘main obstacles’ is political and has its origin in Argentina, a country that is ‘extremely protectionist’, said the president of Brazil’s National Agriculture Confederation, CAN, Senator Katia Abreu currently in Brussels promoting the idea of a bilateral Brazil/EU free trade agreement.

Mercosur needs suspended Paraguay to return to the group because it has ‘to clean its image’ and because its international standing has fallen quite seriously, said a former Paraguayan ambassador suggesting Asuncion should not rush, since the initiative must come from Mercosur.

President Dilma Rousseff ratified Latinamerica and Mercosur as Brazil’s foreign policy priorities, but at the same time emphasizing the ‘excellent relations’ with the United States and the European Union.