The Pacific Alliance is a ‘marketing success’ and does not represent a concern for Mercosur since it does not have the potential for physical integration as other blocks from the region, said Brazilian Foreign minister Antonio Patriota during a congressional hearing this week in Brasilia.
Paraguayan president elect Horacio Cartes held a meeting on Friday at his home with former Chilean president Ricardo Lagos and the Ibero-American secretary general Enrique Iglesias to talk “about Mercosur issues and Paraguay’s suspension from the block”, according to sources close to the meeting.
Brazilian Foreign minister Antonio Patriota confirmed on Thursday that Paraguay’s suspension from Mercosur will be in the agenda of the coming presidential summit, next 12 July in Montevideo.
One of Mercosur ‘main obstacles’ is political and has its origin in Argentina, a country that is ‘extremely protectionist’, said the president of Brazil’s National Agriculture Confederation, CAN, Senator Katia Abreu currently in Brussels promoting the idea of a bilateral Brazil/EU free trade agreement.
The governors, from Tierra del Fuego and Santa Fe will be part of the delegation when the Argentine presentation before the UN Decolonisation Committee on the Falklands/Malvinas sovereignty dispute, next Thursday June 20 in New York.
President Dilma Rousseff ratified Latinamerica and Mercosur as Brazil’s foreign policy priorities, but at the same time emphasizing the ‘excellent relations’ with the United States and the European Union.
Paraguay president-elect Horacio Cartes ratified he will not be attending the coming Mercosur summit scheduled to take place July 12 in Montevideo, confirmed one of his foreign policy advisors since the Paraguayan position remains that “Venezuela is not a full member of Mercosur because the Paraguayan congress by overwhelming majority rejected such option in August 2012”.
Venezuela “is not part of Mercosur, it was not ratified by the Paraguayan congress” according to one of the main foreign policy advisors of president elect Horacio Cartes who is scheduled to take office next August 15. Meanwhile Paraguay continues to advance it its intention of belonging to the Alliance of the Pacific.
The next Mercosur summit scheduled for the end of June in Montevideo has been delayed until 12 July, announced Uruguayan Foreign minister Luis Almagro. The new date was agreed by Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Venezuela earlier this week.
The powerful Brazilian National Confederation of Industry, CNI said that the country and its Mercosur partners will end ‘isolated’ if they don’t actively look for alternative trade accords, as is being done by other Latam countries.