Mercosur

• Friday, September 16th 2016 - 08:25 UTC

  Argentina (and Brazil) optimistic about a Mercosur/EU trade accord by the end of 2017

  

  The current critical situation of Mercosur is an opportunity to strengthen and advance trade negotiations, which could include the long delayed accord with the European Union by the end of 2017, according to Argentina's Secretary of Commerce, Miguel Braun.

• Thursday, September 15th 2016 - 10:40 UTC

  Uruguay admits “consensus support” to remove Venezuela from Mercosur rotating chair

  

  Uruguay's deputy foreign minister Jose Luis Cancela said that if Uruguay had not complied with the other Mercosur three founding members' joint declaration ignoring Venezuela's presidency and demanding it complies with the group's legislation and treaties, “Mercosur would have been launched into a period of full paralysis”.

• Wednesday, September 14th 2016 - 18:35 UTC

  Falklands welcomes UK/Argentina future cooperation agreement, which leaves sovereignty discussions out

  

  The Falkland Islands Government (FIG) welcomed the UK/Argentina future cooperation agreement to remove all obstacles limiting the economic growth and development of the Falkland Islands and points out it will be represented at future discussions on these matters, the removal of sanctions on hydrocarbons, fisheries, shipping and tourism, and underlines that “sovereignty of the Falkland Islands will not be part of these discussions”.

• Wednesday, September 14th 2016 - 08:28 UTC

  Venezuela could lose Mercosur membership if it does not comply with the block's rules

  

  Mercosur full members are working on a resolution calling on Venezuela to comply with all rules, regulations and international treaties of the block, which should be incorporated by next December, and if not the country could lose its membership, according to Uruguayan foreign minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa.

• Tuesday, September 13th 2016 - 19:56 UTC

  Brazil launches ambitious program to auction off oil, power and infrastructure concessions

  

  Brazil on Tuesday launched a multibillion-dollar plan to auction off oil, power rights and infrastructure concessions, in an attempt by the new government to bolster private investment in a moribund economy. The government will sell operating licenses for airports in the cities of Porto Alegre, Salvador, Florianopolis and Fortaleza by the first quarter of 2017. It also plans to sell rights to operate federal roads in the center-west and south regions later next year.

• Tuesday, September 13th 2016 - 19:51 UTC

  Macri announces top level meeting with UK to address ''all issues'', next week in New York

  

  Argentine president Mauricio Macri described as a “gesture” the attendance of Foreign Office minister Alan Duncan at the Business and Investment forum in Buenos Aires, and anticipated that UK and Argentina are preparing a bilateral meeting next week in New York on the sidelines of the annual UN general assembly to address all issues including Falklands/Malvinas.

• Tuesday, September 13th 2016 - 09:55 UTC

  “If beef is not included”, there won't be no Mercosur-EU trade agreement, warns Uruguay

  

  “If beef is not included, there won't be any agreement”, said Uruguay's foreign minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa in anticipation of next week's meeting of European Union and Mercosur coordinators to adjust the list of goods and services the two blocks will formally exchange in mid October, the first formal meeting of its kind in fourteen years.

• Sunday, September 11th 2016 - 16:40 UTC

  Brazil's ex attorney general claims he was fired for trying to deepen Petrobras corruption case

  

  Brazil's new government is trying to stifle a corruption investigation targeting politicians and major parties, the former attorney general said in a magazine interview a day after being replaced by President Michel Temer. The former official, Fabio Medina Osorio, told weekly magazine Veja that he was fired because he tried to deepen the so-called “Car Wash” corruption probe into the country's oil company Petrobras.

• Saturday, September 10th 2016 - 11:47 UTC

  Falklands' response to Malcorra's statements of air links to Argentina and the oil industry

  

  The Falkland Islands Government has acknowledged it is aware of media coverage of Argentine foreign minister Susana Malcorra referred to proposals of possible air links between the Islands and Argentina as well as talks on other areas of interest such as the fishing and hydrocarbons industries.

• Friday, September 9th 2016 - 10:09 UTC

  Mercosur insists in trade negotiations with EU despite Brazil and Venezuela situations

  

  Negotiations for a trade and cooperation agreement between Mercosur and the European Union must continue and should not be overshadowed by political issues such as the impeachment process in Brazil, pointed out Paraguay's foreign minister Eladio Loizaga, following a motion by 15 Green Euro and United Left parliamentarians in Strasbourg to cancel discussions because of the “corruption contaminated” removal of Dilma Rousseff.