Latin American Economy & Business - January 2018 (ISSN 1741-7430)

In the tail-end of his five-year term in office, Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes appears to have taken on a new job: trying to steer almost 20 years of free trade negotiations between the European Union (EU) and Mercosur to a successful conclusion. Cartes has just taken over the six-monthly rotating Mercosur presidency from his Argentine colleague, President Mauricio Macri. Macri’s attempt to reach a deal in time for the World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial summit in Buenos Aires in December did not succeed.