The Summit of Heads of State of Mercosur began today in Asuncion with the absence of the president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, who does not participate because of their "internal commitments," announced Paraguay, the host country.
At the meeting Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes involved; that of Argentina, Mauricio Macri, in what will be their first summit; that of Uruguay, Tabare Vazquez, and the president of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff.
They also take part Evo Morales, president of Bolivia, a country in the process of accession to the bloc, and Michelle Bachelet, president of Chile, and the Prime Minister of Guyana, Moses Nagamootoo Veerasammy associated states.
During the summit adopted a joint statement and Paraguay will transfer the temporary presidency of Mercosur to Uruguay, which will hold the next six months.
The summit was preceded by the meeting held on Sunday the foreign ministers of the bloc, who agreed to move forward in its relations with countries like China and Russia, in addition to those held with the European Union (EU).
The ministers concluded that these openings to more countries or blocs of nations are the way back to the origins of Mercosur, created just 24 years ago in Asuncion to realize the free movement of goods, services and goods.
They also pledged to continue pushing for dialogue with the European Union to achieve the expected trade agreement, which depends on the exchange of trade deals between the two blocs.
Mercosur has prepared its list of commercial offers and is waiting for the European Union agreed to sit start that process. EFE