CARACAS, Wednesday November 04, 2009 | Update
Economy
Senators for the Brazilian ruling party group intend to approve next week Venezuela's Protocol of Accession to the Common Market of the South (Mercosur). The vote was initially scheduled for November 4 or 5, but it was postponed by a decision of the coalition supporting the government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
According to sources in the Brazilian Congress, representatives of the government group in the Senate considered that the best choice was to adjourn the discussion of the issue to have more time to negotiate with Senators of the opposition party, many of whom rebut the entry of Venezuela in the trade economic bloc comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, DPA reported.
Gim Argello, a leader of the ruling party coalition, predicted that the issue will be voted on November 11, the Brazilian state news agency Estado reported.
04:17 PM. Western Hemisphere. "Damned empire; I curse you one thousand times; some day you will be finished off and wrecked. I curse you one thousand times, empire." This is the least that President Hugo Chávez has uttered to refer to the US government. In urging the Bolivarian Armed Forces to prepare for war, he said that a US raid on Venezuela through Colombia would trigger and spread over the region "the 100-year war."