Chilean Foreign minister Alfredo Moreno said on Thursday it had not been decided when Chile’s ambassador to Paraguay, Christian Maquieira would be returning to Asuncion and pointed out that the diplomat continues “in consultations” with Santiago, following the removal of former president Fernando Lugo.
Venezuela’s expulsion of Paraguayan diplomats from Caracas, as a direct consequence of the ongoing conflict inside Mercosur has left Brazil with the challenge of recomposing relations inside the group ahead of Mercosur next summit in December which will be hosted by the administration of President Dilma Rousseff.
By an overwhelming majority, 36 to 1 and eight absences, the Paraguayan Senate rejected the Unasur Commitment with Democracy Additional Protocol considering it contrary to the sovereign interests of the country and which was the argument used by the regional organization to sanction and suspend Paraguay.
The Paraguayan Senate will be addressing on Thursday the Ushuaia II Protocol and the Unasur Additional Protocol on democratic commitment, both instruments used by Mercosur and Unasur last June to have Paraguay suspended from the two organizations.
Paraguay deplored statements from Uruguayan Foreign Minister Luis Almagro who claimed before the United Nations General Assembly in New York that the landlocked country had interrupted ‘democratic order’ when it removed Fernando Lugo from the Executive.
Uruguayan former presidents Jorge Batlle and Luis Alberto Lacalle came in support of the current Paraguayan authorities and political process and claimed the only “coup” was that of Mercosur against Paraguay. They also questioned the removed president Fernando Lugo’s ‘pitiful reaction’ and statements.
By Eric Stadius, Research Associate at Council on Hemispheric Affairs and Peter Tase, Research Fellow at Council on Hemispheric Affairs.Two months after President Fernando Lugo’s impeachment, Paraguay has transitioned from reconciling its relatively benign political crisis to enhancing regional and international links politically and economically.
The Paraguayan Senate, at the heart of serious regional diplomatic dispute, voted by a solid majority against the incorporation of Venezuela as full member of Mercosur. Thirty one Senators rejected the Venezuelan Protocol of Adhesion, three supported it and eleven left the floor before the vote was taken.
The Organization of American States (OAS) agreed on Wednesday to dispatch of a mission to Paraguay to accompany and observe the electoral process in the country that will conclude with the general elections of April 21, 2013.
Unasur (Union of South American Nations) wants to closely accompany the democratic restoration process in Paraguay and is not after the reinstatement of removed president Fernando Lugo, said Peruvian Foreign Affairs minister Rafael Roncagliolo.