Uruguay

• Wednesday, December 21st 2011 - 05:58 UTC

  “Malvinas is a global cause” because it involves the grabbing of natural resources

  

  “Malvinas is not an Argentine cause, it’s a global cause because they are taking our fisheries and oil resources” said Argentine president Cristina Fernandez on taking the Mercosur rotating chair for the next six months.

• Wednesday, December 21st 2011 - 05:53 UTC

  Mercosur supports Argentina: bans access to all Falklands/Malvinas flagged vessels

  

  Mercosur member countries (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay) finally agreed Tuesday to close its ports to ships flying the flag of the disputed Falkland/Malvinas Islands, announced Uruguay's president at the closing of the group’s two-day summit in Montevideo.

• Wednesday, December 21st 2011 - 05:39 UTC

  Lugo complains restrictions on market access and in energy integration

  

  Paraguayan president Fernando Lugo called for the free flow and free access of his country’s goods to Mercosur senior members’ markets and insisted on the energy integration of the block.

• Tuesday, December 20th 2011 - 21:48 UTC

  Venezuela’s full incorporation doesn’t have to be decided today, said Chavez

  

  Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez arrived in Uruguay on Friday to push for his country's incorporation into the Mercosur trade bloc, in his first official trip abroad since undergoing cancer surgery in June.

• Tuesday, December 20th 2011 - 21:02 UTC

  Uruguay bars vessels but will never share a maritime or economic blockade of the Falklands’ people

  

  Uruguayan President Jose Mujica addressing his peers at the Mercosur summit in Montevideo ratified the country’s position barring Falklands’ flagged vessels from Uruguayan ports in active support of Argentina’s sovereignty claim over South Atlantic Islands, which has led to a serious diplomatic controversy with the UK.

• Tuesday, December 20th 2011 - 19:28 UTC

  Mercosur summit suspended following suicide of a top Argentine official

  

  The Mercosur presidential summit in Montevideo has been temporarily suspended following the news that a member of the Argentine delegation had committed suicide which left delegation members in a state of shock.

• Tuesday, December 20th 2011 - 07:31 UTC

  Inter American Bank will hold annual meeting in Montevideo, next March

  

  The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will hold its Annual Meeting in Montevideo, Uruguay March 16-19, drawing top economic decision-makers from its 48 member countries, including finance ministers and central bank presidents.

• Tuesday, December 20th 2011 - 07:21 UTC

  Argentina/Brazil propose higher external tariffs for Mercosur

  

  Argentina supported by Brazil has proposed increasing Mercosur Foreign External Tariff to better defend the group when country members are being flooded with cheap imports.

• Tuesday, December 20th 2011 - 07:01 UTC

  Mujica looses his temper with the media over the ‘Villa Nores’ incident

  

  The Uruguayan president Jose Mujica lost his temper in an incident with a journalist when he was asked what measures the government was planning to avoid a repeat of the situation with a Spanish flagged vessel chased by an Argentine Coast Guard unit and had to take refuge in Uruguayan waters.

• Tuesday, December 20th 2011 - 02:07 UTC

  Mercosur drafting resolution barring Falklands’ flagged vessels from all regional ports

  

  Mercosur member countries meeting in Montevideo for their regular six-month summit are drafting a resolution that would bar Falklands’ flagged vessels from all Mercosur members’ ports, following on the traditional Argentine policy and now openly supported by the Uruguayan government.