Paraguay

• 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.

• Monday, August 6th 2012 - 08:14 UTC

  Lugo going to appeal before the Inter American Court his removal from office

  

  Fernando Lugo said he would appeal to the Inter American Court the whole political impeachment process in the Senate that ended with his removal from the Paraguayan presidency in less than 48 hours and with little chance of a defence.

• Monday, August 6th 2012 - 08:07 UTC

  Ex-president says inclusion of Venezuela in Mercosur is “favourable for Uruguay”

  

  Former president Jorge Batlle (2000/2005) said that the inclusion of Venezuela in Mercosur “is favourable for Uruguay” but at the same time insisted it was “wrongly done” for not having taken into account Paraguay’s opposition currently suspended as member of the regional block.

• Saturday, August 4th 2012 - 03:14 UTC

  Venezuela accession to Mercosur “by the back door”, according to The Economist

  

  Under the heading of “In by the back door” referred to the expansion of Mercosur, The Economist says “bringing Venezuela certainly was smart, in the sense of cunning rather than wise”, but it was done ignoring the block’s rules which call for unanimity in admitting new members.

• Saturday, August 4th 2012 - 02:18 UTC

  Paraguayan senators challenge Chavez version of attempted bribes to favour Venezuela

  

  An international controversy has surfaced between President Hugo Chavez and Paraguayan senators as to who really tried to bribe whom regarding failed attempts to have Venezuela incorporated to Mercosur.

• Friday, August 3rd 2012 - 08:20 UTC

  Chavez claims Paraguayan senators tried to blackmail him to vote for Venezuela in Mercosur

  

  President Hugo Chavez said that the incorporation of Venezuela to Mercosur was “exemplary” because it never yielded to “blackmail” from the Paraguayan extreme right and revealed that he met with Paraguayan Senator Lino Oviedo, considered the mastermind behind those attempts.