Mercosur signed a free trade agreement with the Palestinian Authority on Tuesday, the first between the territories and a block of nations outside the Arab world. The ceremony took place during Mercosur presidential summit in Montevideo.
Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa said he was satisfied with having presented an official request for his country to join Mercosur and also called for closer links between Mercosur and the Andean Nations Community, CAN.
President Hugo Chavez called on Barack Obama to stop meddling in Venezuelan affairs, “leave us alone” and described the US leader as a clown and an embarrassment. Chavez is currently in Montevideo for the Mercosur summit.
Argentina supported by Brazil has proposed increasing Mercosur Foreign External Tariff to better defend the group when country members are being flooded with cheap imports.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez said he will travel on Tuesday to the Mercosur summit in Uruguay in his first official foreign trip since undergoing cancer surgery in June and a further sign he is feeling stronger.
President Barack Obama has accused the government of Venezuela of threatening basic democratic values ahead of elections next year. He added that close relations with Iran and Cuba did not serve the interests of the Venezuelan people.
A two day Mercosur summit begins Monday in Montevideo with Foreign Affairs ministers meeting Monday and the presidents on Tuesday when the rotating chair will be passed from Uruguay to Argentina for the next six month.
Venezuela’s Foreign Affairs minister Nicolas Maduro called on the Paraguayan parliament for a “sincere and fraternal” vote that opens the way for Venezuela’s incorporation to Mercosur as a full member, a request pending since 2006.
Mercosur concluded Tuesday in Argentina one of its most successful summits after having reached agreements on issues that consolidate integration and at the same avoiding being drawn into a frustrating debate on a renewed chapter of the ongoing Venezuela/Colombia conflict.
Argentine Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman set in motion the 39th Mercosur Summit during which Argentina informed of the results obtained under its pro-tempore presidency of the bloc in the first six months of the year.