Paraguay

• Friday, August 14th 2009 - 14:09 UTC

  Paraguayan government withdraws bill for Venezuela’s Mercosur incorporation

  

  Paraguay's government withdrew a bill that would approve the incorporation of Venezuela to the Mercosur trade bloc fearing a defeat in Congress that could hurt relations between the two countries.

• Friday, August 14th 2009 - 05:35 UTC

  Paraguay’s poverty index forecasted to reach 40% because of recession

  

  After having declined sustainedly during the last few years, Paraguay’s poverty index is forecasted to soar to 40% of the population in 2009 because of the economic recession, said on Thursday Economy minister Dionisio Borda.

• Thursday, July 30th 2009 - 14:13 UTC

  Energy dispute: having agreed with Brazil, Paraguay now targets Argentina

  

  After having reached an understanding with Brazil, Paraguay next month plans to begin negotiations with Argentina to claim better conditions for the power generated from the Yaciretá dam which both countries share.

• Tuesday, July 28th 2009 - 03:28 UTC

  Brazil insists on the political angle of the Itaipú agreement

  

  The Brazilian presidency advisor in international affairs Marco Aurelio García said that the agreement between Brazil and Paraguay regarding the surplus power from the shared Itaipú hydroelectric dam (operationally the largest in the world) is “most important” and helps to normalize bilateral relations.

• Monday, July 27th 2009 - 12:35 UTC

  Brazil agrees to treble payment for Paraguay’s energy from Itaipú

  

  Brazil and Paraguay agreed over the weekend on an amicable solution to a decade long dispute over a hydro-electric dam on their shared border, with Brazil agreeing to triple the amount it pays its neighbour for energy.

• Tuesday, July 21st 2009 - 10:43 UTC

  EU/Mercosur talks expected to resume in 2010

  

  European Union Foreign Relations Commissar, Benita Ferrero-Waldner said on Monday that the Spanish presidency of the European Union in 2010 “should be a good moment and opportunity” to resume the stalled discussions of the European block with Mercosur.

• Tuesday, July 21st 2009 - 10:06 UTC

  Brazil accepts discussions on Itaipú surplus power distribution and prices

  

  Brazil will allow Paraguay to openly sell to Brazilian energy distributing companies its surplus share of the power generated by the Itaipú dam, the largest of its kind in the Americas.

• Sunday, July 19th 2009 - 18:46 UTC

  Eight presidents expected at this week’s Mercosur summit

  

  This coming week’s Mercosur presidential summit in Paraguay will convene eight South American leaders, announced Paraguayan Foreign Affairs minister Hector Lacognata during a press conference Saturday in Asuncion.

• Thursday, July 16th 2009 - 07:20 UTC

  The supra-national issue surfaces in the coming Mercosur summit agenda

  

  The approval of the new composition for the Mercosur Parliament scheduled to be agreed later this month at the group’s presidential summit in Paraguay could be postponed given conflicting interests on supra-national decisions.

• Saturday, July 11th 2009 - 18:07 UTC

  Paraguay plans to open trade office in Shanghai

  

  A Paraguayan delegation of government officials and private sector representatives will be travelling to China in the near future to begin conversations for the formal establishment of trade relations with Beijing, announced the country’s Foreign Affairs minister Hector Lacognata.