Paraguay

• Tuesday, July 19th 2011 - 05:12 UTC

  Paraguay wants Argentina to pay better prices for power from shared dam

  

  The presidency of the Paraguayan delegation at the Mercosur Parliament, Parlasur called on Argentina to improve the ‘reduced’ price it currently pays for surplus power from the shared hydroelectric dam of Yacyretá.

• Friday, July 15th 2011 - 06:35 UTC

  Paraguayan congress blocks re-election attempt of an ambitious bishop-president

  

  Paraguay's opposition-controlled Congress rejected a constitutional reform that would have let President Fernando Lugo run for re-election. The reform drive, led by Lugo's supporters, proved controversial in a country where many people have painful memories of General Alfredo Stroessner's 35-year dictatorship.

• Tuesday, July 12th 2011 - 15:37 UTC

  Argentina continues to block sale of Paraguayan power to Uruguay

  

  The sale of power from landlocked Paraguay to Uruguay continues to be delayed because Argentina has come up with more demands before it allows transmission through its grid, according to Paraguayan officials.

• Tuesday, July 5th 2011 - 00:20 UTC

  Paraguay and Uruguay claim Argentina is obstructing regional power agreement

  

  Argentina is delaying the sale of Paraguayan power to the Uruguayan market (which must cross Argentine territory) for reasons ‘as least publicly’ unknown for both sides interested in the deal, according to the Uruguayan and Paraguayan press.

• Wednesday, June 29th 2011 - 03:53 UTC

  Mercosur ‘structural convergence fund’ has distributed 1.1bn USD in 37 projects

  

  Mercosur structural convergence fund, Focem, which was created in 2005, has distributed 1.1 billion US dollars among its full members for the implementation of 37 projects basically to improve roads for inter-region and international trade, according to official figures released in Asunción.

• Tuesday, June 28th 2011 - 16:32 UTC

  Argentina promises to end fluvial obstacles to land-locked Paraguayan trade

  

  Foreign Affairs minister Hector Timerman in Asuncion for the Mercosur summit promised on Tuesday Argentina will put an end to fluvial obstacles to Paraguayan trade. Landlocked Paraguay trades with the rest of the world through the Parana River, most of which crosses Argentine territory.

• Tuesday, June 28th 2011 - 16:26 UTC

  Japan interested in closer links with Mercosur attends summit in Paraguay

  

  Japan is attending the Mercosur summit in Paraguay with an eye on proposing the launch of a dialogue to boost bilateral economic relations and explore the possibility of signing a free trade agreement, reports the Japanese news agency Kyodo.

• Tuesday, June 28th 2011 - 06:12 UTC

  Mercosur summit begins Tuesday among controversy over its effectiveness

  

  The Mercosur summit will be an opportunity to solve asymmetry problems and social inequalities in the region, said Paraguay’ Foreign Affairs minister Jorge Lara Castro. The South American customs union is meeting this week in Asuncion for the first of two annual summits when the rotating chair will be passed on to Uruguay.

• Monday, June 27th 2011 - 06:24 UTC

  Parlasur member claims Mercosur summits have become ‘display of empty rhetoric’

  

  Mercosur summits have become a display of empty rhetoric, full of protocol and ‘family photos’ but with no full hearted willingness to achieve a solid, fair integration, claimed the head of the Paraguayan delegation before Parlasur, the Mercosur Parliament.

• Friday, June 24th 2011 - 21:50 UTC

  Mercosur summit in Paraguay; Uruguay takes the chair for the next 6 months

  

  Presidents from Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Ecuador have confirmed they will be attending the Mercosur summit in Paraguay next June 28/29, when the rotating chair of the group for the next six months will pass on to Uruguay.