
President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner said Monday evening that the Mercosur Summit arrives at a very special time in the world economy, especially in all of South America, which has had a very satisfactory performance.

Once the Mercosur summit is over, on Tuesday afternoon, the presidents of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, and of Brazil, Lula da Silva, are to hold a meeting in San Juan to analyse bilateral relations, said Foreign Affairs minister Hector Timerman.

The Uruguayan government and opposition expressed deep satisfaction with the agreement reached with Argentina for the monitoring of the River Uruguay which did not include ‘detrimental sovereignty issues’ and sealed the end to a long standing conflict.

Uruguay and Argentina finally reached on Wednesday an agreement for the joint monitoring of the River Uruguay which should end the long-standing dispute over the construction of the Finnish UPM/Botnia pulp mill dating back to 2005.
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez office has confirmed he will be participating of the coming Mercosur presidential summit scheduled for next August 3 in San Juan, north of Argentina when the rotating chair of the block will be passing from Buenos Aires to Brasilia.

Uruguayan president Jose Mujica will be meeting with his peer Cristina Kirchner Wednesday in Buenos Aires in what seems an attempt to unbind differences relative to the joint monitoring of the river Uruguay, particularly the Finnish pulp mill UPM/Botnia which is at the heart of the ongoing dispute between the neighbouring countries.

Argentina's trade surplus narrowed by 19% in June from the same month a year ago, falling short of market expectations as brisk economic growth fuelled demand for imports, according to official data released last week.

Unasur (Union of South American Nations) chairman Nestor Kirchner confirmed Monday ongoing contacts at different levels to try and defuse the Colombia/Venezuela conflict.

Former Argentine president Nestor Kirchner added more fuel to speculations about next year’s presidential election when he insinuated that both members of the most powerful couple in Argentina could be running.

President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner signed a new law Wednesday making Argentina the first country in Latin America to legalize marriage for same-sex couples. Civil registries across the nation will now begin processing long lists of marriage applications from gay couples. The first such ceremony in Buenos Aires is set for August 13.