
Paraguay's Minister of Industry and Commerce Luis Castiglioni Monday said he would like to see a wall across the border between his country and Argentina. He added the idea was inspired by former US President Donald Trump's plan to build such a structure con control illegal immigration from Mexico.

Argentine President Alberto Fernández Monday said at the European Council headquarters before the plenum of the EU-Celac Summit in Brussels that “Our regions must promote fair and equitable trade based on mutual respect.” He also underlined the importance of working together. It is the first meeting between the two blocs since 2015.

Mercosur members have been added to Ecuador’s list of potential rice suppliers as the Andean country seeks to import rice to keep its stocks full, as they have been significantly depleted due to crop issues. Ecuador shortfall production could reach some 200,000 tons.

Argentina Tuesday handed over the Pro Tempore Presidency of Mercosur to Brazil and Uruguay refused to sign the joint declaration after the bloc's 62nd Summit in the Argentine city of Puerto Iguazú in the northeastern province of Misiones.

Presidents Luis Lacalle Pou of Uruguay and Mario Abdo Benítez of Paraguay Tuesday spoke against the disenfranchisement in Venezurela of opposition leader María Corina Machado in a move that seems to leave Nicolás Maduro's reelection bid unchallenged.

Presidents Luis Lacalle Pou of Uruguay, Luis Arce Catacora of Bolivia, Mario Abdo Benítez of Paraguay, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, and Paraguay's President-elect Santiago Peña Tuesday showed strong support to Argentine Economy Minister Sergio Massa, a likely candidate to become President comes Dec. 10, on the sidelines of the 62nd Mercosur Summit in Puerto Iguazú.

Argentine Economy Minister Sergio Massa said Monday in Puerto Iguazú during a conference with his Mercosur peers on the opening day of the bloc's 62nd Summit in the province of Misiones, that in order to strengthen intra-Mercosur trade, it is essential to consolidate local currency agreements among our countries.

Argentina's Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero Monday stressed that the trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union (EU) is hindered by what he called the “asymmetries” between the two blocs.

Paraguayan Foreign Minister Julio César Arriola Monday called for a more effective and efficient Mercosur during the bloc's two-day summit in Puerto Iguazu in the Argentine province of Misiones.

Trade relations between Brazil and Argentina are improving with an overall volume of US$12.5 billion in the first five months of this year. Brazil exported US$7.5 billion worth of goods and imported US$ 5 billion from Argentina, according to the Comexstat portal of the Brazilian Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Services.