
Uruguay’s Minister of Industry and Energy Roberto Kreimerman admitted that Brazil suspended the access of textiles from Uruguay alleging that they were essentially Chinese cloth rolls with minimum input but stamped as Uruguayan manufactured and dispatched to Brazil.

Uruguayan president Jose Mujica said that the presence of Prince William, heir to the British Crown, in the Malvinas Islands is a gesture “not at all nice” and called for the dispute with Argentina not to become military because it’s no good for anybody, least for the region.

Inflation and an over valued currency are among the main challenges faced by the Uruguayan economy this year in the framework of a global recession which threatens the country’s exports

Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota and his visiting German counterpart Guido Westerwelle on Monday called for signing a free trade agreement between the European Union and the South American trade bloc Mercosur.

Uruguay’s hydrocarbons refining company Ancap signed on Tuesday an agreement with US company Schuepbach Energy to begin exploration for oil and gas in the north and centre of the country.

Brazil’s private sector said it would grant Argentina a “confidence vote” and would wait until the end of February before assessing the consequence of the new import restrictions imposed by the government of President Cristina Fernandez.

European and Latin American personalities underlined the peril of falling prey to short term results and forget the long term relation between the two regions which is expected to be re-launched following the French presidential election next April.

Mercosur from a real point of view exits, but institutionally it’s a “chewing gum” claimed Uruguayan president Jose Mujica who anticipated he would demand from the block’s partners that Uruguay be allowed to sign bilateral trade agreements with third parties.

The latest round of imports’ restrictions imposed by the government of President Cristina Fernandez and how to address them have triggered a serious debate inside the ministerial cabinet of Uruguayan president Jose Mujica.

President Cristina Fernandez hopes to convince Brazil to join Argentina in its campaign against the multinational corporations in an effort to balance trade balances in the midst of the global crisis spurred by the Euro crisis, China’s slow reaction and the US economy which still has to recover from the full impact of the 2008/09 recession.