Tereza Cristina, tapped by President-elect Jair Bolsonaro to head Brazil's Agriculture Ministry, said on Wednesday the country could decide to abandon the Mercosur trade bloc if it failed to address inequality.
Several Latin American presidents and political activists are scheduled to hold the First Forum of Critical Thinking next week in Buenos Aires, just a few days before the G20 summit which this year in being hosted by Argentina and will convene the world's leaders.
Argentine budget airline Flybondi will go international starting December 17 with a flight between El Palomar in the Greater Buenos Aires area and the Paraguayan capital Asunción. Three days later it will commence serving Punta del Este from El Palomar and also from Córdoba.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced that the United States has joined with 12 other nations, (including Mercosur founding members) to support policies that enable agricultural innovation, including genome editing. The International Statement on Agricultural Applications of Precision Biotechnology was released in Geneva at the World Trade Organization Committee on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures.
Mercosur is not a priority, and Argentina is not a priority for the new government of Brazil, the priority is to trade with all the world. The strong statement came from Paulo Guedes, signaled as the next Finance minister of president elect Jair Bolsonaro's cabinet and a crucial player in that team since the newly elected leader has admitted a limited knowledge of economics.
Latin American leaders congratulated Brazilian president elect Jair Messias Bolsonaro for his Sunday victory. Be it via twitter, official releases or direct phone calls, the next president of Brazil was well wished even from neighboring Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro.
The ultra right candidate Jair Bolsonaro continued ahead of Fernando Haddad in the runoff for the Brazilian presidency scheduled to take place this Sunday, 28 October. According to the latest public opinion poll, released late Saturday, the ex Army captain and paratrooper had a 54% of valid votes support while the Workers Party hopeful stood at 46%, that is an eight points difference.
Argentine Production and Labour Minister Dante Sica Monday said in Madrid he was confident the European Union and the South American Mercosur trade bloc would reach an agreement as soon as possible, hopefully by the G-20 Summit in Buenos Aires in late November.
Brazil’s far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro has promised to continue his country's participation in the Mercosur trading bloc but says he will move it away from “ideology”.“The Mercosur has value but it was disfigured by the PT (Brazil's Workers' Party)”, Bolsonaro said at a press conference in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday. “I won’t abandon the Mercosur but it won’t continue to be guided by ideology”, he added.
Pollster Datafolha released on Saturday evening its latest vote intention survey for Brazil's presidential election on Sunday 7 October, and it shows extreme right candidate Jair Bolsonaro leading with 40%, followed by Fernando Haddad from the Workers Party with 25% and Ciro Gomes, another left wing hopeful with 15%.