Brazil Wants a Cultural Mercosur

Brazil’s President in Office, José Alencar, said that the Mercosur integration should also contemplate social and cultural sectors. The bloc is integrated by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

“The affirmation of the Mercosur as a cohesive bloc in the international arena takes into account, certainly, political and economic issues. However, it is necessary to give equal importance to the social and cultural integration in this process,” he said during ceremony that marked the beginning of the restoration of the seaport of São Francisco do Sul, in the state of Santa Catarina, South of Brazil.

According to Alencar, it is necessary to reactivate the cultural tourism in the region occupied by the bloc. He emphasized the importance, in this process, of the city of São Francisco do Sul, which registered a 15% increase in its tourism in the last years.

“This beautiful city occupies a strategic geographic location, because it is midway between Buenos Aires and São Paulo,” he said.

Firearms

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) signed a partnership to standardize norms and legislations on the production, distribution, sales, registration, bearing and possession, and destruction of firearms in the four Member States of the Mercosur.

The document was signed by the Brazilian government, this last Thursday, April 7, in Brasí­lia. The two institutions, now, want the support of the other countries of the Mercosur. A project outline has already been presented to representatives of the UNDP in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

At first, information about firearm control in the four countries will be gathered and organized. The objective, according to the UNDP, is to reveal the differences and indicate how the standardization of legislation and management may help deter weapon trafficking.

The project will include, still this year, a seminar in these countries to analyze the information gathered and discuss ways of joint action in the combat of organized crime.

Agência Brasil