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“The two presidents decided to postpone the state visit since the outcome of this visit should not be conditioned on an issue which for Brazil has not been satisfactorily resolved,” a statement from Rousseff’s office said. Originally scheduled for October, the visit will take place as soon as possible after the U.S. government explains allegations

President Dilma Rousseff is pushing new legislation that would seek to force Google, Facebook and other internet companies to store locally gathered data inside Brazil. The requirement would be difficult to execute, technology experts say, given high costs and the global nature of the Internet. Still, Rousseff’s initiative is one of the most tangible signs

Global efforts to battle trade protectionism need to be reinforced to help shield the fragile economic recovery across the world said a report released on Monday by the European Commission in which it claims Brazil and Argentina are among the main offenders when it comes to import duties hikes and government procurement limitations. The report

Brazil and Uruguay want to speed a trade agreement with the European Union but without abandoning Mercosur, and making it clear that they are willing to advance at “a different speed” than the rest of the group’s members, revealed a reliable source from the government of President Jose Mujica in Montevideo. “For some time Mujica

“Until when will we allow ideology to prevail over economics, markets, competitiveness grounding the great vessel of Brazilian trade in the port of little regional pretensions”, asks Katia Abreu in a column published in Folha de Sao Paulo openly criticizing the administration of Dilma Rousseff for its Mercosur policy and the results of the recent

Brazil wants to change the way Mercosur negotiates trade agreements with the European Union, EU, so as to definitively advance with the ongoing discussions that were started in 1995, but still have to see concrete results, according to Brazilian official trade and diplomatic sources. Brazil is committed to have the group (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay

In light of revelations about the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs,  Brazilian foreign minister Antonio Patriota is calling for the UN’s International Telecommunications Union to help ensure internet security: Patriota also said his government plans to propose changes to international communications rules administered by the Geneva-based International Telecommunications Union to improve communications secrecy, the statement

By Alfredo Valladão Waiting one more year to start doing serious business doesn’t look like a good start. But it is also true that UE-Mercosur negotiations are stuck into two deep potholes. One is the South American block lack of consensus on this matter, with some members (Argentina and Venezuela) deeply opposed to any free

How are we going to advance, how are we going to open markets if one of our members wants to lock us in and slap tariffs on imports”, said Senator Abreu, adding “we want an ambitious bilateral agreement with the European Union, but outside the framework of Mercosur”. Senator Abreu said that Brazilian farmers are

At the graduation ceremony of thirty new diplomats President Rousseff made a quick review of the country’s foreign policy and underlined all the initiatives in which Brazil has been active partner in recent years “to strengthen Mercosur”, the customs group of which it is a founding member next to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay currently suspended,