Paraguay

• Wednesday, August 15th 2012 - 09:10 UTC

  Paraguayan president calls for moderation from the Senate on the Venezuela issue

  

  Paraguayan president Federico Franco called for moderation and time from members of Congress when they begin considering Venezuela’s request to become a full member of Mercosur, since the issue needs of “a good in depth analysis and no hasty decision”.

• Tuesday, August 14th 2012 - 23:38 UTC

  Mercosur farmers plan to sow record soybean area; stocks drop to half from a year ago

  

  Mercosur farmers in Brazil and Argentina are forecast to plant more soybeans for harvesting this season in response to higher prices, at the expense of wheat and corn sowing, according to Oil World. Paraguay and Uruguay Agriculture ministries have also anticipated an increase in the soybeans planted areas.

• Saturday, August 11th 2012 - 10:04 UTC

  Paraguay sounding the possibility of joining the Pacific Group

  

  Paraguay is sounding the recently created Pacific Block made up of Colombia, Peru, Chile and Mexico with the possibility of considering applying to join it, revealed the country’s Foreign affairs minister Jose Fernandez Estigarribia.

• Friday, August 10th 2012 - 08:41 UTC

  Short of soy Brazil meat producers want to import from Bolivia

  

  Meat producers in Brazil's Mato Grosso do Sul state are lobbying the government to approve soy imports from neighbouring Bolivia after drought shrank supplies in the world's second grower, a state official and analysts.

• Friday, August 10th 2012 - 07:49 UTC

  Brazil reminds Paraguay that Itaipu power is jointly shared and managed

  

  Brazil reminded Paraguay it can use the power it needs from the giant Itaipu hydro but there is a contract which regulates how to manage the surplus. A day earlier president Federico Franco said that Paraguay would not “yield” any more electricity to Brazil.

• Wednesday, August 8th 2012 - 18:21 UTC

  Paraguay to appeal Mercosur sanctions before the The Hague Court of Justice

  

  The Paraguayan government had decided to appeal before the International Court of Justice in The Hague the suspension imposed on Paraguay by the governments of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay as a sanction for the removal of Fernando Lugo as president of the country, last June 22.

• Wednesday, August 8th 2012 - 07:12 UTC

  Unasur special committee presents this week report on Paraguay’s political situation

  

  The special Unasur commission that is monitoring and following political events in Paraguay since the removal of Fernando Lugo as president and his replacement by Federico Franco, is expected to make a first presentation next Thursday said Peruvian Foreign affairs minister Rafael Roncagliolo.

• Wednesday, August 8th 2012 - 06:37 UTC

  Brazil begins major military exercise to test security along its southern borders

  

  Brazilian Armed Forces began this week a major deployment along the borders of Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia involving 9.000 troops from the three services with the purpose of testing border security against smugglers mainly of arms and drugs and organized crime, said the Ministry of Defence.

• Tuesday, August 7th 2012 - 20:14 UTC

  Mercosur has only benefited Brazil in the last ten years with a surplus of 36.8bn

  

  Brazil is the only country that in the last ten years has benefited from Mercosur with an intra-zone trade surplus of 36.8 billion dollars while the other three full members, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay have accumulated huge deficits in the same period, according to Argentine economist Orlando Ferreres a regular columnist from La Nacion with graduate studies in Harvard.

• Tuesday, August 7th 2012 - 08:45 UTC

  Removed Paraguayan president says he can run again for the Executive office

  

  Former Paraguayan president Fernando Lugo who was removed from office last June following a political impeachment in Congress said he can again be a presidential candidate in the coming April elections.