Angela Merkel has retained her place as the world's most powerful woman for the fifth year in a row, U.S. business magazine Forbes said on Tuesday. Merkel has made the list 10 times in the past 12 years, nine of them as number one. She was first elected in 2005 and won an historic third term in 2013.
Brazil and Uruguay's plan for a more 'flexible' Mercosur to speed negotiations for an encompassing long delayed trade agreement with the European Union have stumbled with the first official reaction from Argentina, which does not agree with the tariffs' proposals policy or individual trade initiatives from member countries.
Uruguay will be hosting Paraguayan president Horacio Cartes in early June when he is expected to confirm' his country's support to Uruguay and Brazil in their renewed approach to accelerate negotiations for the signing of a full cooperation and free trade agreement with the European Union, which were started fifteen years ago.
Brazil´s main opposition party plans to pursue a criminal complaint against President Dilma Rousseff for 'inventive' accounting that helped shore up the country´s fiscal results in recent years.
Brazil finally announced its much expected budget resources reshuffle that will freeze 69.9 billion Reais (22.58 billion dollars) worth of spending on investment, education and health programs this year, limiting outlays in a bid to convince investors that President Dilma Rousseff is committed to saving the country's investment-grade rating.
Uruguayan president Tabare Vazquez said it was “urgent and necessary” to redesign Mercosur so as to give its members greater 'trade flexibility'. Vazquez made the statements following Thursday meeting with his peer Dilma Rousseff in Brasilia and underlined “it would be naive to admit that Mercosur as it stands currently, is satisfactory”.
Uruguayan president Tabare Vazquez will be meeting his peer, Dilma Rousseff in Brasilia this Thursday to address a dense bilateral agenda, and more specifically the workings and future of Mercosur, in search for a more flexible group, open to agreements with third parties.
Beijing has come to the rescue of Brazil's slumping economy with trade, finance and investment deals worth at least 53 billion dollars in energy, mining, aviation and upgrading of dilapidated infrastructure.
China's Premier Li Keqiang arrived in Brasilia on Monday to sign agreements on infrastructure, energy and aviation that experts say could reach 100 billion dollars. The South American tour also includes Colombia, Peru and Chile and aims to restructure China's resource-driven trade with Latin American countries by including more value-added products.
Mercosur countries have reached a basic consensus to look for mechanisms that will allow individual members to negotiate trade agreements outside the block, announced Uruguay's foreign minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa, who has been leading a strong campaign (with Brazilian support) on the issue.