Mercosur

• Thursday, December 31st 2009 - 12:18 UTC

  Dear MercoPress subscribers and readers:

  

  MercoPress wishes all subscribers and readers a very prosperous New Year, hoping 2010 will definitively help to lift the world out of global recession.

• Thursday, December 31st 2009 - 03:07 UTC

  Venezuela’s Mercosur incorporation will help “dilute Brazilian hegemony”

  

  The incorporation of Venezuela to Mercosur will help dilute the Brazil-Argentina hegemony and will be beneficial for small countries said Paraguay’s Foreign Affairs minister Héctor Lacognata on Wednesday chatting with foreign correspondents.

• Wednesday, December 23rd 2009 - 06:13 UTC

  Brazil not pressing Paraguay on Venezuela’s Mercosur incorporation

  

  The Brazilian government is not putting pressure on the Paraguayan Congress to vote the full incorporation of Venezuela to Mercosur. Paraguay is the only remaining full member which still has to vote for Venezuela to join the South American trade block, following last week’s Brazilian senate divided approval.

• Monday, December 21st 2009 - 13:09 UTC

  Mercosur: Chavez sends “peace” message to Paraguayan Senate

  

  President Hugo Chavez said he was hopeful the Paraguayan congress would vote for Venezuela to join Mercosur since Paraguay is one of the countires to “most benefit” from such an incorporation.

• Friday, December 18th 2009 - 10:53 UTC

  Paraguay could vote on Venezuela’s Mercosur incorporation after summer recess

  

  Paraguayan Congress will remain blocking Venezuela's entry into Mercosur trade bloc “as long as President Hugo Chávez continues intervening in foreign affairs”, stated the head of the Senate, Miguel Carrizosa, just a day after Brazilian lawmakers approved the incorporation. However his successor in the job affirms the opposite.

• Thursday, December 17th 2009 - 03:05 UTC

  Brazil strong message to Paraguay on support of Venezuela inside Mercosur

  

  Following this week’s Brazilian Senate vote to for the incorporation of Venezuela as a Mercosur full member, only Paraguay’s support is pending, but the Paraguayan Senate is divided on the issue. More over President Fernando Lugo had to withdraw the initiative last August when he was informed the divided coalition that took him to office could not garner the sufficient votes to ensure support.

• Wednesday, December 16th 2009 - 13:03 UTC

  Mercosur: Finally Brazil’s Senate approved Venezuela incorporation

  

  Bringing to close a year-long internal debate over the role of Venezuela in South American political and economic affairs, Brazil's Senate, by a vote of 35 to 27, voted Tuesday to approve the entrance of the country's northern neighbor into the Mercosur trade bloc.

• Wednesday, December 16th 2009 - 04:11 UTC

  Soybeans bumper crop forecasted in Mercosur countries

  

  A soy bean bumper crop in South America in early 2010 will ease world reserves of grains, currently at very low levels, and will also have an impact on international prices according to Oil World.

• Thursday, December 10th 2009 - 11:31 UTC

  Brazilian Senate postpones vote on Venezuela’s Mercosur incorporation

  

  The Brazilian senate postponed on Wednesday until next Tuesday the vote on Venezuela’s incorporation to Mercosur following a heated debate on the floor when the opposition strongly criticized Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.

• Thursday, December 10th 2009 - 07:39 UTC

  Mercosur considering “sovereign fund” as protection against weak US dollar

  

  Fearful of the continued depreciation of the US dollar vis-á-vis other global currencies, Mercosur country members admitted one of the possibilities under consideration for the management of international foreign reserves is the creation of a kind of sovereign fund.