
Member nations of Mercosur will seek to boost economic and political ties with Cuba in a bid to make the island an associate member of the trade bloc.

The Mercosur summit approved Thursday a declaration protesting “formally and energetically” UK’s decision to hold military exercises in the Malvinas islands and reiterated support for Argentina’s sovereignty claim over the South Atlantic Islands.

Mercosur leaders meeting in Brazil launched a plan to adopt common trade, investment and immigration policies to help underpin unprecedented economic growth in the region.

The Paraguayan Industrial Union, UIP, called Brazilian president Lula da Silva an “arrogant hypocrite” for making promises he never honoured, and attacked President Fernando Lugo for generating ‘overblown fantasy expectations’.

Australian Foreign Secretary Kevin Rudd will be present at the two-day Mercosur summit which begins Thursday in Foz de Iguazu. Rudd met on Wednesday with his Brazilian peer Celso Amorim ahead of the summit and in the framework of the “Australia-Brazil Dialogue” created last September.

Trade between the four member Mercosur block is expected to reach 42 billion US dollars in 2010 revealed Argentine Industry minister Debora Giorgi who on Thursday will be participating of the Mercosur summit in Foz de Iguazu, Brazil.

Mercosur could end up with a High Representative post following this coming presidential summit in Foz de Iguazu. According to Brazilian sources the initiative has been discussed with partners Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay and should be approved next Thursday/Friday.

Mercosur full member countries with the exception of Brazil will have the best growth performance in the region this year, according to the annual report from the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Cepal which was announced this week in Santiago de Chile.

Brazilian president-elect Dilma Rousseff will attempt to strengthen Mercosur institutions and establish a protagonist dialogue with United States, according to the presidential advisor on international affaire Marco Aurelio García who has been confirmed in his post.

Venezuela’s incorporation as a full member of Mercosur has been secured following the confirmation of a political agreement in Paraguay, the only of the four-country group that still had a vote pending in congress.