Argentine president Cristina Fernandez arrived Tuesday evening to Paraguay to begin early Wednesday an official visit which has been delayed several times. Besides the usual agenda discussions and accords signing with her peer Horacio Cartes, the visit will also have a strong symbolism since the Argentine president will be formally returning to Paraguay furniture and other belongings from one of the country's most revered leaders, Francisco Solano Lopez.
Paraguay sold 1bn (one billion) dollars in 30-year bonds on Monday in New York, its second international debt issue in less than two years. President Horacio Cartes said in a statement that the issue's 6.1% yield is unprecedented for the country, and that the proceeds will be used for highway, building and energy infrastructure, as well as agricultural production.
Paraguay strongly objected a draft Mercosur declaration on Gaza which wanted to openly support Palestine and unilaterally condemn Israel's bombings and incursions, according to sources at the group's summit which took place Tuesday in Caracas.
Mercosur is “not working” and is “stalled” admitted Uruguayan president Jose Mujica and blamed the situation on different visions of the block's functioning, according to an interview with Folha de Sao Paulo.
President Jose Mujica underlined the strong identity of Uruguay with the Paraguayan people, but also recalled no the “immense debt that we never settled or will we ever be able to settle for having participated in the War of the Triple Alliance”.
The Paraguayan currency, Guaraní, is expected to revalue 1.4% against the US dollar by the end of the year becoming one Latam's strongest given its positive macroeconomic indicators. This follows a strong performance during the first half of the year when the price of the dollar in the capital Asunción wholesale money exchanges dropped from 4.450 Guaraní to 4.240, according to private consultants Consensus Economics.
Landlocked Paraguay has become the new 'soybean king' with a harvest of over 9 million tons, a new record, 13% compared to the previous crop, according to the figures released by the Paraguayan Chamber of Grains and Oilseeds Exporters, Capeco.
London AIM listed President Energy PLC, has spudded what it calls the first deep exploration well in the Paraguayan part of the Chaco basin in almost 30 years.
Floods have killed nine people and driven tens of thousands of people from their homes while swelling rivers to record levels in southern Brazil and neighboring Paraguay and Argentina, authorities said Tuesday.
Uruguay Foreign Affairs minister Luis Almagro said that the political situation in Venezuela makes it quite improbable that the three-times postponed and since delayed Mercosur summit can effectively take place in Caracas sometime in the next two months.