
The European lawmakers’ delegation said it was surprised with the drastic and quick determinations, with no right to defence or appeal, decided against Paraguay by Mercosur and Unasur, said Paraguayan Foreign Minister Jose Felix Fernandez Estigarribia, following a meeting in Asuncion with the visiting MEPs.

Former Brazilian president Fernando Enrique Cardoso said that his country is rapidly loosing influence in South America to Venezuela, following on remarks about the suspension of Paraguay from Mercosur.

Paraguay is optimistic about an Organization of American States resolution regarding recent events and the current situation in the country, despite strong criticism from other regional organizations such as Mercosur and Unasur.

A delegation from the European parliament begins this Monday an in-situ data collecting mission in Paraguay following the situation triggered a month ago when then President Fernando Lugo was impeached and removed from office, but which has caused the new regime a certain freezing of international links.

The influential British business and politics magazine The Economist anticipates that following the latest decisions by Mercosur, the South American group has little if any future. The Economist argues that the mounting protectionism and the rule-breaking admission of Venezuela have fatally undermined a once-promising trade block.

Horacio Cartes a presidential hopeful from the Paraguayan hegemonic Partido Colorado said that exiting Mercosur would only cause the closure of industries and the loss of thousands of jobs in the country.

Brazil considers “important” that the Organization of American States, OAS, takes into consideration the decisions from Mercosur and Unasur relative to the suspension of Paraguay from the two regional groupings.

Venezuela’s president Hugo Chavez running for re-election received a considerable boost for his campaign from his peer and political associate President Cristina Fernandez when it was revealed that Argentine inflation in the first half was over two digits.

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.

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.