Brazil Foreign minister Antonio Patriota said he expects that Paraguay president-elect Horacio Cartes will accept the return to Mercosur following his taking office ceremony scheduled for next August 15.
Mercosur leaders agreed on Friday to call home for consultation their ambassadors to Spain, France, Italy and Portugal to protest last week's forced diversion of the Bolivian president's aircraft. They also strongly defended their right to offer asylum Friday, venting anger at claims of US spying in the region while intelligence leaker Edward Snowden's fate hangs in the balance.
President Cristina Fernandez revealed during the Mercosur summit in Uruguay on Friday that as a result of the judicial dispute between Argentina and the hedge funds, a few countries in Europe are not a flying option for her.
“Mercosur has closed its doors to Paraguay and it’s not good for Latinamerican integration”, was the first reaction from Asuncion after the group announced the presidency for Venezuela and lifting the suspension of Paraguay next 15 August.
President Nicolas Maduro remembered former leader Hugo Chavez and pledged his main priority as president of Mercosur would be to ensure the quick return of Paraguay to the group. Maduro made the statement on Friday in Montevideo during the ceremony in which he received the official Mercosur presidency gavel from Uruguayan president Jose Mujica which means he will be holding the pro tempore chair for the next six months.