Paraguay's president-elect Fernando Lugo whose historic election ended six decades of one-party rule in the country named a former leftist militant to head his Cabinet when he takes office on August 15.
The Argentine farmers' conflict has the River Plate packed with grain bulk carriers waiting to load in Buenos Aires and Rosario (up the river Parana). An estimated 90 vessels are queuing with the tail reaching the access to the port of Montevideo, in neighboring Uruguay.
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez named on Sunday Ali Rodriguez, a trusted ally who has also served as head of state oil company PDVSA, as Minister of Finance. Rodriguez is currently ambassador in Cuba and was once secretary general of OPED and has also held the post of Foreign Affairs minister.
Argentina will hand Paraguay and Bolivia the Limits Act which contains the final territorial and fluvial borders which emerged from the Chaco War, fought 73 years ago between the two landlocked and poorest countries of the continent.
European Union foreign affairs ministers are gathering in Luxembourg for talks on how to respond to the Irish rejection of the Lisbon reform treaty. Voters in the Irish Republic, the only state to hold a referendum on Lisbon, rejected the treaty by 53.4% to 46.6% last Thursday.
Argentina's food and fuel shortages worsened on Friday as groups of truckers continue to block highways in spite of the government announcement that the stoppage was over following talks with one of several protesting groups.
The grain truckers strike in Argentina who are blocking major roads in the country and on Thursday evening confirmed the industrial action are causing major food and fuel shortages in cities forcing cuts on public transport and higher prices in stores.
Police in Ecuador have arrested three Colombians and an Ecuadorian accused of plotting to kill the country's leftist president Rafael Correa, officials say.
Headlines: Port Troop veterans return; Flight delay leaves less time for lobbying; Berkeley Sound update; Public holiday; Inside PN this week.
Irish voters dealt a stunning blow to the European Union by decisively rejecting the institutional reforms of the Lisbon treaty. Official Thursday referendum results released on Friday showed 53.4% of Irish voters said NO and 46.6%, YES.