Paraguay

• Tuesday, April 23rd 2013 - 02:04 UTC

  Brazil conditions Paraguay’s return to Mercosur to approval of Venezuela’s membership

  

  Brazil conditions the immediate return of Paraguay to Mercosur to the approval, by the new congress, of Venezuela’s full incorporation to the trade block, according to the influential Folha de Sao Paulo quoting foreign ministry reliable sources.

• Monday, April 22nd 2013 - 07:49 UTC

  Cartes invites the opposition to work with him and sends message to Brazil

  

  In his victory speech Paraguay president-elect Horacio Cartes said he expects to win the confidence of all the Paraguayan population and called on the opposition to work for the good of the nation. He also had a direct reference to the neighbouring giant saying he wanted to work with Brazil, a ‘brother-country’.

• Monday, April 22nd 2013 - 07:26 UTC

  Cartes, a self-made millionaire who has pledged to transform Paraguay

  

  President-elect Horacio Cartes is one of Paraguay's wealthiest men with businesses in tobacco, finance, farming, retail and the soft drinks industry among others. Brash and ambitious, Cartes had never voted before joining the conservative Colorado Party in 2009.

• Monday, April 22nd 2013 - 06:40 UTC

  Cristina Fernandez and Mujica tell Cartes, Mercosur ‘is waiting for the return of Paraguay’

  

  Argentine president Cristina Fernandez congratulated Paraguayan president-elect Horacio Cartes for his ample victory in Sunday’s election and said Mercosur was waiting for the return of the country to the trade block.

• Monday, April 22nd 2013 - 06:34 UTC

  Paraguay’s Colorados back in office; opposition admits defeat; observers praise election process

  

  Millionaire businessman Horacio Cartes won Paraguay's Sunday presidential election, returning the powerful centre-right Colorado Party to power after a brief spell started in 2008 ended in impeachment last year. Cartes won with a 9 or 10 percentage point lead over Efrain Alegre of the ruling Liberal Party, the head of the country's electoral tribunal said.

• Thursday, April 18th 2013 - 21:39 UTC

  “Democracy in Paraguay is here to stay: Mercosur and Unasur have become irrelevant”

  

  “We’re optimistic about Sunday’s election and the future of Paraguay if we can agree on long term state policies, but something is for certain: democracy in Paraguay is here to stay” said Ricardo Caballero Aquino, Chargé d’affaires of the Paraguayan embassy in Montevideo who was also positive about future relations with Unasur and Mercosur.

• Thursday, April 18th 2013 - 05:39 UTC

  Paraguay elects president on Sunday but return to Unasur still distant

  

  Paraguay will be electing a new president on Sunday and its re-incorporation to the Union of South American Nations, Unasur could happen under the new government anticipated Salomon Lerner, chief observer of the regional group.

• Thursday, April 18th 2013 - 05:30 UTC

  Cartes and Alegre with best chances of becoming Paraguayan president on Sunday

  

  On Thursday evening all of Paraguayan presidential candidates will be holding their final rallies after which begins a 48-hour ban of all electoral activities ahead of Sunday’s general election. Two candidates outstand in the dispute, Horacio Cartes from the Colorado party and Efrain Alegre from the ruling coalition headed by the Liberals.

• Monday, April 1st 2013 - 10:08 UTC

  Paraguayan president visits Spain and the OAS where he has ample support

  

  Paraguay’s president Federico Franco has arrived in Madrid, a special guest of his peer Mariano Rajoy with whom he will be holding talks at the Moncloa Palace. Rajoy is particularly interested in showing his support for President Franco and Paraguay that have been suspended from Mercosur and Unasur because of the removal by Congress, following political impeachment of Fernando Lugo.

• Wednesday, March 27th 2013 - 19:12 UTC

  Conservative candidate leads polls in Paraguay April 21 presidential election

  

  Paraguay businessman Horacio Cartes a newcomer to politics and the presidential candidate for the conservative Colorado party that ruled the landlocked country for decades leads public opinion polls less than a month ahead of the general election.