Mercosur full and associate members ended their Paraguay summit signing six joint statements, one of which in support of Argentina's sovereignty claim over the Falklands/Malvinas Islands and rejecting 'non authorized' hydrocarbons exploration in the Argentine continental shelf. This is the first regional document related to the Falkland Islands Argentine claim since Mauricio Macri took office last 10 December.
Chilean president Michelle Bachelet called for a convergence among governments of South America despite the political and ideological differences, and anticipated that Chile will strongly promote the rapprochement between Mercosur and the Pacific Alliance.
The Brazilian government has welcomed Argentina's realistic foreign exchange policy unifying the Argentine peso exchange rate, saying the latest economic measures taken by the Mauricio Macri administration will be “very positive” for the commercial relationship between the two countries.
Paraguay foreign minister Eladio Loizaga advanced some of the issues that will addressed on Monday's Mercosur presidential summit, when all of the members of the group's heads of state have confirmed their attendance, except Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro, plus leaders from associate members.
Mercosur is waiting for the European Union to decide when to begin the exchange of tariff-reduction proposals with the purpose of reaching an encompassing trade and cooperation agreement, despite France's objections to the move, said Rigoberto Gauto, Paraguay's deputy foreign minister. Paraguay currently holds the Mercosur chair and leads negotiations with Brussels.
Argentine ambassador in London, Alicia Castro was a guest speaker at the Latin America conference held at the TUC headquarters, alongside other well known political and trade union figures.Her speech was met with a standing ovation from an audience of over 500 British attendants, whom she thanked for supporting Argentina on the Malvinas Question and in the litigation with the speculative or 'vulture' funds.
Next Friday Argentine president elect Mauricio Macri will be travelling to Brasilia to meet with president Dilma Rousseff, which will be the incoming leader's first overseas trip.
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel García-Margallo became on Sunday the first foreign official to be received by president-elect Mauricio Macri after he won the November 22 runoff election, and announced a new 'spectacular' era is beginning in Madrid’s relations with Argentina.
The European Union said it hopes the election of a centre-right government in Argentina will give new impetus to stalled talks on a free trade pact with Mercosur, the Latin American bloc.
Britain's David Cameron and Argentina's president-elect Mauricio Macri agreed to “strengthen relations” and “to pursue a path of open dialogue” between their countries after a phone call Thursday, Downing Street said.