Argentina, Brazil, Chile, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Paraguay Friday agreed in Dubai on the sidelines of the United Nations Climate Summit (COP28) to “seek opportunities” for the highway due to link the port of Santos, in Brazil, with the Chilean ports of Arica and Iquique. Former Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benítez has dubbed the initiative “the small Panama Canal.”
Uruguay promulgated the bill which incorporates Bolivia as the latest member of Mercosur, the South American group made up of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. The incorporation of Bolivia should help with the consolidation of a Mercosur Atlantic-Pacific corridor across South America.