Mercosur

• Monday, July 30th 2012 - 04:31 UTC

  Mercosur experts discuss technical aspects of Venezuela’ incorporation

  

  Experts from Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Venezuela will begin to define on Monday in Brasilia the technical procedures and timetable for the incorporation of Venezuela to Mercosur which will become official on Tuesday at an extraordinary summit of the block.

• Saturday, July 28th 2012 - 02:12 UTC

  Mujica forecasts Venezuela will rapidly become Uruguay’s third trade partner

  

  Uruguayan president Jose Mujica strongly defended the incorporation of Venezuela to Mercosur and forecasted that in a short time the country will become Uruguay’s third trade associate, behind China and Brazil.

• Saturday, July 28th 2012 - 01:25 UTC

  Rousseff pledges to tackle the “Brazil cost” with new stimulus package

  

  Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said on Friday her government will unveil more measures to stimulate the economy in the next few months, including investments in ports, airports, railroads and highways.

• Saturday, July 28th 2012 - 00:10 UTC

  Russia investing heavily in becoming self sufficient in beef production

  

  Russian President Vladimir Putin has an ambitious plan to cut his country's 3 billion dollars annual import bill for beef. He even aspires to return Russia's beef industry to its pre-revolutionary stature.

• Thursday, July 26th 2012 - 20:35 UTC

  Mujica warns Uruguay is going through an exceptional period, but it is also finite

  

  President Jose Mujica said Uruguay was going through an ‘exceptional’ period vis-à-vis the world crisis but also warned that exceptionality has limits and is not forever.

• Thursday, July 26th 2012 - 18:52 UTC

  Brazil discusses with Chavez arrangements for Venezuela’s Mercosur incorporation

  

  Venezuelan President met on Wednesday with a committee from the Brazilian government to discuss mechanisms to speed the full integration of the country to the regional block. Brazil currently holds the Mercosur rotating chair.

• Thursday, July 26th 2012 - 09:10 UTC

  Mercosur farmers support Paraguay and call for harmonic relations in the group

  

  The suspension of Paraguay and the intent to incorporate Venezuela to Mercosur represent a threat to the regional integration process, said the Mercosur Federation of Rural Associations, Farm, currently meeting in Santiago de Chile.

• Wednesday, July 25th 2012 - 04:44 UTC

  Brazilian influential newspaper blasts “Dilma’s anti-diplomacy”

  

  Brazil’s influential newspaper O Estado de Sao Paulo blasted Brazilian foreign policy and its handling of the Paraguayan political crisis. In an opinion column under the heading “Dilma’s anti-diplomacy” the newspaper argues that the current administration is politicizing foreign policy, the same way that her predecessor, Lula da Silva.

• Wednesday, July 25th 2012 - 00:54 UTC

  Spain suggests Paraguay should not attend Ibero-American summit in Cadiz

  

  Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel García-Margallo suggested on Tuesday that it would be best for Paraguay not to attend the coming Ibero-American summit scheduled to take place in Cadiz, next November, because of the complex political situation.

• Tuesday, July 24th 2012 - 23:43 UTC

  Unasur conditions return of Paraguay to democratic, transparent elections

  

  Paraguay must comply with democratic and transparent elections if it pretends to again become a member of the Union of South American Nations, Unasur, said the regional block following meetings on Tuesday held in Lima, Peru.