Mercosur

• Thursday, July 12th 2012 - 07:05 UTC

  Washington says Paraguay should not be suspended from OAS and calls for regional unity

  

  Paraguay should not be suspended from the Organization of American States, OAS, despite the removal of President Fernando Lugo, said on Wednesday Roberta Jacobson, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs.

• Thursday, July 12th 2012 - 02:03 UTC

  Paraguayan Supreme Court receives unconstitutional appeal on Lugo’s removal

  

  The Paraguayan Supreme Court accepted on Wednesday an unconstitutional appeal against the removal of President Fernando Lugo which requests the annulment of the political impeachment undertaken and voted by Congress.

• Wednesday, July 11th 2012 - 19:24 UTC

  With Venezuela, Mercosur will extend from Patagonia to the Caribbean

  

  Brazilian Foreign minister Antonio Patriota again supported the access of Venezuela as full member of Mercosur and the suspension of Paraguay, which he described as a clear message for all those possible “anti-democratic adventures”.

• Wednesday, July 11th 2012 - 07:17 UTC

  Defence of Argentine sovereignty over Malvinas has become “a regional issue”

  

  The Argentine ambassador in London Alicia Castro said that South America has reached such a degree of unity that it is possible to think “on the defence of Argentine sovereignty over the Malvinas in regional terms”.

• Wednesday, July 11th 2012 - 01:20 UTC

  Uruguay president and vice-president clash over Venezuela’s Mercosur admission

  

  Uruguayan Vice president Danilo Astori openly clashed with President Jose Mujica over the recent decision to incorporate Venezuela to Mercosur arguing it was “the deepest institutional injury” suffered by the block and questioned the concept that the juridical “has to be at the service of the political”.

• Tuesday, July 10th 2012 - 23:48 UTC

  OAS report to the Permanent Council does not favour suspending Paraguay

  

  The Organization of American States Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza said that to suspend Paraguay from the OAS “would not contribute to the achievement of our objectives”, governance, the electoral process and institutional normality.

• Monday, July 9th 2012 - 21:07 UTC

  Paraguayan industry lobby says forget Mercosur, calls for talks with Pacific Alliance

  

  The president of the Paraguayan Industrial Union Eduardo Filippo said it was essential for the country to establish negotiations outside Mercosur, following the suspension from the group by the remaining three members allegedly because of the rupture of the democratic order.

• Monday, July 9th 2012 - 05:59 UTC

  Chavez announces trip to Brazil for Venezuela’s formal admission to Mercosur

  

  President Hugo Chavez said he will be attending at the end of July the coming Mercosur meeting in Brasil when Venezuela will officially become the group’s fifth full member, a decision that has proved controversial and exposed differences inside the Common Market of the South.

• Friday, July 6th 2012 - 16:14 UTC

  Mujica proposes to blend Mercosur and Unasur into an only `more flexible group

  

  Uruguayan president Jose Mujica proposed to its South American peers to blend Mercosur and Unasur into an only group, according to an interview with a Uruguayan weekly in which he also ratified his commitment with Venezuela (and its oil resources) to justify the incorporation of the fifth full member of Mercosur.

• Friday, July 6th 2012 - 15:38 UTC

  EU prepared for talks with an expanded Mercosur that includes Venezuela

  

  The European Commission has said it will continue negotiations on an association agreement with Mercosur even if Venezuela finally becomes a full member of the group and will address the issue on a “region to region” basis.