Uruguay will be hosting form 18 to 20 October the global conference on Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs) which is organized by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Office of the President of Uruguay Tabare Vazquez, and the Ministry of Health of Uruguay. The purpose of the conference in Montevideo is how to enhance policy coherence between different spheres of policy making that have a bearing on attaining SDG target 3.4 on NCDs by 2030.
Uruguay has a new vice-president following the resignation of the questioned and discredited Raul Sendic. On Wednesday mid-morning, Lucia Topolansky, wife of ex president Jose Mujica received unanimous support from the General Assembly (123/123). Under the Uruguayan constitution the head of the most voted Senate group of the winning party in the last election, in this case the MPP (Popular Participation Movement), leads in the presidential succession line. She is the first woman to occupy such a post.
Uruguayan Vice president, and head of the Senate, Raul Sendic has stepped down after presenting his “indeclinable” resignation to the ruling coalition plenary and to president Tabare Vazquez, quelling what was becoming a major political and institutional situation given his long string of misconducts, some of them precisely questioned by an ethics tribunal from the coalition.
Mercosur foreign ministers are scheduled to meet this Saturday in Sao Paulo to decide on to how to address latest events in Venezuela, the fifth member of the group which remains suspended, and so far has not replied to calls to cancel the constituent assembly procedure and attempt some form of dialogue with the political opposition.
Uruguayan President Tabaré Vázquez Tuesday said that there are many internal problems in the countries that make up Mercosur, but that he was also “confident” that the main achievement this year will be the free trade agreement with the European Union.
Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro seems to have blown up the last bridge to Mercosur when he launched a barrage of accusations against Uruguay's foreign minister which triggered an immediate reaction from president Tabare Vazquez, who demanded evidence of the charges or a public retraction from the embattled Maduro. But the conflict has also openly exposed the deep rift inside the Uruguayan ruling coalition regarding the Bolivarian revolution “anti imperialist” regime.
Talks between Uruguay's government and Finnish pulp and paper maker UPM on a new pulp plant project in the Latin American country are proceeding, Uruguay's president Tabare Vazquez said on Monday.
Uruguayan president Tabare Vazquez, six cabinet ministers and a numerous business delegation begin on Monday a two weeks official tour of Germany, Finland and Russia to increase political and trade links, particularly in the “new international scenario” and hopefully advancing in locking the long delayed accord between the European Union and Mercosur.
The government of President Nicolas Maduro government closed the border with Brazil for 72 hours for the same reason it had taken the same measure with Colombia: money smuggling, Brazilian local authorities and residents of southern Venezuela who routinely cross to Brazil where they can make transactions in bolivars confirmed.
Argentina's priority as chair of Mercosur which it will officially take over this week will be to advance negotiations with the European Union for a wide ranging trade agreement which will not include Venezuela, anticipated foreign minister Susana Malcorra .