The Organization of American States, OAS special envoy said on Thursday that Mercosur and Unasur ‘need’ Paraguay and the suspension of the country from the two organizations can be tracked to other interests unrelated to those events.
Brazil said it is hard to see Paraguay rejoining Mercosur and Unasur before next year’s presidential election. The two blocks suspended the landlocked country following the removal of Fernando Lugo last June and replacing him with President Federico Franco.
Uruguay’s tenure of Mercosur rotating chair will be advanced six months meaning that at the coming summit in December Brazil will hand over the next six-month responsibility to the administration of President Jose Mujica, thus skipping Paraguay which remains suspended from the South American trade group.
Former Brazilian President Lula da Silva said he believes it is time for Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, recently re-elected for another six years, “to begin preparing his succession”
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.
Venezuela's government decided to expel Paraguay's remaining diplomats from the country, the top envoy at the Paraguayan Embassy said on Wednesday. Charge d'affaires Victor Casartelli said that he and three other Paraguayan diplomats in Caracas were told by Venezuela's Foreign Ministry to leave within three days.
Foreign minister Jose Felix Fernandez Estigarribia confirmed the beginning of negotiations for the re-incorporation of Paraguay to Unasur and Mercosur which will take place through the mediation of a Latinamerican country he did not identify.
Paraguay is involved in low key negotiations with the region to find a way for the quick return of the country to Unasur and Mercosur, and Chile and Colombia are playing crucial roles in such discussions, according to media reports from Asuncion.
President Dilma Rousseff, meeting with her Irish peer Michael D. Higgins said the global crisis has had a greater impact on Argentina than on Brazil, which has a stronger industrial base, and called for a better understanding of President Cristina Fernandez administration.
President Federico Franco ratified on Monday before the Diplomatic Corps that Paraguay rejects point blank the incorporation of Venezuela as full member of Mercosur and also considers the country was unfairly treated by the block.