Mercosur

• Saturday, December 8th 2012 - 03:59 UTC

  Paraguay rejects Mercosur decisions involving Bolivia and Uruguay

  

  Paraguay rejected the incorporation of Bolivia to Mercosur which took place on Friday at the summit in Brasilia and criticized the fact Uruguay accepted the group’s chair for the next six months skipping Paraguay, currently suspended from the regional organization.

• Saturday, December 8th 2012 - 03:54 UTC

  Mercosur summit rejects Falklands’ self-determination referendum

  

  Presidents from Mercosur full and associate members meeting in Brasilia rejected the coming Malvinas Islands self determination referendum and anticipated that whatever the result of the ballot “it will not alter at all the essence of the Malvinas question”.

• Saturday, December 8th 2012 - 03:51 UTC

  Venezuela has until 2016 to adapt to Mercosur tariffs and rules system

  

  Venezuela will adopt the Mercosur common external tariff in four annual stages which are scheduled to conclude in the first half of 2016, according to what was agreed at the summit held Friday in Brasilia and reported by Brazilian diplomatic sources. This was Venezuela’s first summit as a full member of the South American trade and political block.

• Friday, December 7th 2012 - 05:46 UTC

  Brazil confirms Venezuela’s Chavez will be absent from the Mercosur summit

  

  Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez will not be attending the Mercosur summit on Friday as had been previously announced, announced on Thursday the Brazilian Foreign ministry which is hosting the event.

• Thursday, December 6th 2012 - 21:44 UTC

  Mercosur (as Unasur) ratifies the suspension of Paraguay until at least April

  

  Mercosur Foreign ministers announced in Brasilia on Thursday that the suspension of Paraguay from the group stands at least until the coming presidential election on April 2013.

• Thursday, December 6th 2012 - 07:57 UTC

  Brazil anticipates Mercosur summit will confirm Paraguay’s suspension stands

  

  Paraguay must continue suspended from Mercosur following the group’s presidential summit on Friday, anticipated the head of the Latin American desk from the Brazilian Foreign ministry, Antonio Jose Ferreira Simoes.

• Thursday, December 6th 2012 - 07:45 UTC

  Brazil says President Chavez attendance to Mercosur summit is “uncertain”

  

  The presence of President Hugo Chavez at Friday’s Mercosur summit is “uncertain” reported the official Brazilian news agency on Wednesday adding that the organizers are waiting for a confirmation of his trip to Brasilia.

• Wednesday, December 5th 2012 - 17:09 UTC

  Mercosur, except for Uruguay quite a “corrupt” neighbourhood, according to TI

  

  Mercosur and Unasur democracies did not rank very encouragingly in the latest Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2012 with all countries, except Chile and Uruguay, ranking below the score of 50, on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very clean).

• Wednesday, December 5th 2012 - 05:26 UTC

  EU and Mercosur to resume free trade talks at two events next January

  

  The European Union and Mercosur will resume talks on a free trade agreement during a coming summit in Brazil and later at a meeting in Santiago de Chile, both in January, according to the EU chief delegate in Brazil, Ana Paula Zacarias.

• Wednesday, December 5th 2012 - 05:22 UTC

  Dealing with Argentina “one of the most painful problems” admits President Mujica

  

  Uruguayan president Jose Mujica confessed that dealing with neighbouring Argentina is “one of the most painful problems” faced by his administration given the weight of the Argentine economy.