Paraguay

• Saturday, October 26th 2013 - 00:25 UTC

  Paraguayan president ratifies full political support for Mercosur

  

  President Horacio Cartes although admitting he is heart and mind committed to Mercosur, Paraguay's full return to Mercosur is in the hands of diplomacy since as head of state he must abide strictly by the rule of the law.

• Tuesday, October 22nd 2013 - 16:34 UTC

  Cartes and Mujica will address Mercosur and port facilities in Friday's meeting in Montevideo

  

  Paraguayan president Horacio Cartes will be visiting Uruguay next 25 October to meet with his peer Jose Mujica and a month later will be flying to the Vatican to visit Pope Francis, November 25, announced Foreign minister Eladio Loizaga.

• Monday, October 21st 2013 - 05:30 UTC

  Brazil confident Paraguay will be returning to Mercosur before the end of the year

  

  Brazil trusts Paraguay will fully return to Mercosur before the end of the year, said Brazil's Executive foreign policy advisor Marco Aurelio Garcia in a Sunday edition interview with the influential Folha de Sao Paulo.

• Thursday, October 17th 2013 - 20:24 UTC

  Paraguay’s economy roaring ahead is estimated to expand 13.6% this year

  

  Paraguay’s central bank increased the country’s growth estimate for 2013 from 13% to 13.6%, the highest for Latinamerica. Estimates have been on the increase since October last year, 9.5%; December, 10.5%; April 13% and now, 13.6% which compares to the 0.9% contraction of 2012, when drought and Foot and Mouth Disease hit Paraguay’s main export items, soybeans and beef.

• Friday, October 11th 2013 - 13:11 UTC

  Paraguay congress votes 10% export tax on grains and soybeans. Cartes expected to veto the bill

  

  A controversial bill imposing a 10% tax on grains and oil seeds exported in their natural state was finally approved by the Paraguayan congress. The bill presented in 2012 was passed in the Senate, rejected in the Lower House and again ratified by the Upper House, however Deputies could not round up the necessary 53 votes to again reject it.

• Thursday, October 10th 2013 - 02:34 UTC

  Venezuela insists in re-establishing full relations with Paraguay, but legal obstacles remain

  

  Venezuela and Paraguay need to re-establish full relations and overcome “all the obstacles that need to be overcome”, said Foreign minister Elías Jaua currently in Asunción, a special guest of his counterpart Eladio Loizaga.

• Wednesday, October 9th 2013 - 05:46 UTC

  Venezuelan minister invited to Paraguay: Mercosur and bilateral relations in the agenda

  

  Venezuela Foreign minister Elias Jaua is expected Wednesday in Asuncion, a guest of the Paraguayan government to talk about bilateral relations, Mercosur and to advance in negotiations of common interest, according to sources from the administration of President Horacio Cartes.

• Friday, October 4th 2013 - 07:05 UTC

  UK offers Paraguay cooperation in transport and infrastructure at embassy ceremony

  

  The UK is back in full force in Latinamerica, and particularly in Paraguay, the fastest growing economy in the region, said Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire during the inauguration of the British embassy in Asunción, which had been shut down back in 2005.

• Thursday, October 3rd 2013 - 21:24 UTC

  Brazil offers Paraguay Mercosur chair, but apparently Argentina is not convinced

  

  Brazil offered Paraguay the rotating chair of Mercosur as of next December, as part of an overall understanding to have the landlocked country return to the block, while accepting the incorporation of Venezuela as a full member of the group. Paraguay rejects Venezuela’s membership alleging it was done against the will of its Senate and in breach of national and international law and of the Mercosur charter.

• Wednesday, October 2nd 2013 - 16:47 UTC

  Minister Swire opens the British embassy in Asuncion after a break of eight years

  

  Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire formally opened on Wednesday the British Embassy in Asuncion, Paraguay which will be headed by Ambassador Jeremy Hobbs. Accompanied by Paraguayan Foreign Minister Eladio Loizaga, he hailed the opening a symbol of the UK’s continued engagement in Latin America.