
Paraguay expects the Mercosur summit that begins Monday in San Juan, Argentina, to approve 650 million US dollars in loans. The Paraguayan Foreign Affairs ministry also confirmed that President Fernando Lugo and chancellor Hector Lacognata will be attending the meeting.

The Aymara priest who blessed Bolivian President Evo Morales at an inauguration ceremony four years ago has been arrested in possession of 240 kilos of cocaine, police said.

Trade among Mercosur full members Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela in the process of incorporation is forecasted to reach 41 billion US dollars said Brazil's ambassador to Argentina Enio Cordero. This is a significant leap from the 9 billion of 2002 and 4.5 billion in 1991 when the block was established.

Brazil's ruling Workers' Party presidential candidate Dilma Rousseff, has a five percentage-point lead over her main rival Jose Serra, according to the latest opinion poll released Friday.

The Brazilian Executive spokesman Marcelo Baumbach said on Saturday that President Lula da Silva had a long conversation on the phone with Colombian president-elect Juan Manuel Santos and they talked about the diplomatic crisis with Venezuela.

Kuwait and Uruguay signed several agreements to bolster bilateral relations during the visit to Montevideo of a high level delegation from the Middle East country. Kuwaiti authorities announced that the kingdom would soon be opening an embassy in Montevideo.

Egypt will be signing a free trade agreement with Mercosur during the group’s presidential summit scheduled for next August 3 in Argentina, announced Friday the Egyptian trade minister on Friday.

Chile is re-establishing diplomatic relations with Honduras more than a year after a coup sent the Central American country into political crisis, Chile's foreign ministry announced Friday.

Brazilian President Lula da Silva and Uruguay’s Jose Mujica on Friday defended South America’s integration as a peace zone and reiterated the two countries commitment to Mercosur and Unasur.

Spain’s unemployment rate already the highest in the Euro region rose to the most in more than a decade in the second quarter: 20.09% up from 20.05% in the first quarter, according to the country’s National Statistics Institute. This is the highest since 1997.