Western Hemisphere
The Brazilian Senate adjourned one more time voting the adhesion protocol of Venezuela to Mercosur, initially scheduled for Wednesday in Brasilia.

The initiative was taken by the leader of the pro-government group at the Upper Chamber, centrist Romero Jucá, in view of the low turnout of lawmakers –only 37 out of 81 senators were present. This would increase the risk of rejection of the protocol by the opposition to the government of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The opposition resistance went stronger last week, after Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez urged his fellow citizens to "prepare for a war," following the Colombian government decision to allow the use of military bases by US troops.

Jucá told Brazilian reporters that he would not set yet a new date to vote the treaty signed in 2006, and that he would do it after a meeting between pro-government and opposition leaders to be held on Thursday in order to define the issues to be voted over the next four weeks.