Colombia will participate in the coming Union of South American Nations, Unasur, summit “to discuss all issues” and not only the US/Colombia agreement on military bases, anticipated Jaime Bermúdez, Colombian Foreign Affairs minister.
President Alan García said that Peru had adopted the “positive sides” of the Chilean model and insisted that Peru will “not adopt a retaliatory or a diminished attitude towards Chile; we simply want to be better than them”.
Iran's government accused Argentina of interfering in internal affairs, referring to criticism against the designation of Ahmad Vahidi as Defence Minister. Vahidi has been wanted since 2007 by Interpol for supposed ties to the AMIA terrorist attack in Buenos Aires which caused 85 deaths and hundreds of injured.
Brazil's former environment minister Senator Marina Silva has left the ruling Workers' Party, paving the way for an expected presidential run in the October 2010 election. The opposition praised her attitude and her former party companions said they have no resentment towards her.
A new picture of Fidel Castro has been published in a state-run newspaper, apparently showing Cuba's ailing former leader in much better health. Castro, 83 was pictured meeting with the Ecuadorean president, Rafael Correa, on Friday.
United Kingdom Armed Forces Minister Bill Rammell has denied claims that British soldiers' lives are being put at risk by inefficient MoD systems for buying new equipment.
Brazilian president Lula da Silva considers that differences inside the Union of South American Nations, Unasur are more “a matter of form than content” because “our main objectives are compatible and at the same time convergent” according to an interview in Bolivia’s leading newspaper La Razon.
Argentina's Foreign Affairs Ministry harshly condemns the nomination of Ahmad Vahidi to serve as Iran's Defence Minister as he is a suspected international terrorist sought by Interpol in connection with the 1994 attack on AMIA Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires.
Brazilian president Lula da Silva suggested to his peer Barack Obama that he should meet with South American leaders to address the announced presence of US forces in seven Colombian bases.
If Things Are Ever To Improve, Chile Must Follow New Zealand’s Example -
By Eugenio Tironi