
Respect for human life from conception until natural death is something children must be taught, not mainly with words, but by the example of their parents, Pope Francis said. Parents are called to pass on to their children the awareness that life must always be defended, Pope Francis wrote in a message to people joining in the Brazilian Catholic Church's celebration of Family Week, which began August 11.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says Americans owe US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden a debt of gratitude because his leaks prompted President Barack Obama to promise an overhaul of secret surveillance.

Brazil and Uruguay want to speed a trade agreement with the European Union but without abandoning Mercosur, and making it clear that they are willing to advance at “a different speed” than the rest of the group’s members, revealed a reliable source from the government of President Jose Mujica in Montevideo.

The 28-country European Union underscored the potential benefits of a free trade agreement with Mercosur and revealed that so far no country member of the group has requested to a bilateral negotiation.

Brazil, Latin America‘s biggest economy, is planning to try to negotiate a separate trade deal with the European Union, Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota said in remarks published Monday.

Uruguay together with the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Eclac) and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) are holding a four day conference in Montevideo as of Monday under the heading of First session of the regional conference on population and development in Latam and the Caribbean.

Spanish Foreign minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo will be visiting Argentina next September to meet with his peer Hector Timerman to discuss the Gibraltar and Falklands/Malvinas sovereignty disputes and consider the possibility of a joint front.

President Cristina Fernandez Victory Front managed to remain as the leading political force nationwide on Sunday’s congressional primaries but her opponents emerged exceptionally strong in the all-important province of Buenos Aires and the other main districts of the country, to the extent that some political analysts anticipate the beginning of the end of the ten years of Kirchnerism.

Dozens turned out on Saturday in southern Chile for the funeral of a Mapuche land activist and fugitive who last Tuesday was found dead of shotgun wounds to the chest. Carabineros have made no arrests and have no suspects so far, said local authorities.

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez confirmed by writing that she would be attending the inauguration of Paraguayan president Horacio Cartes next Thursday 15 August, according the organization committee of the event in Asuncion, Ambassador Federico Gonzalez and head of Protocol at the Paraguayan foreign ministry.