The Latest Breaking News from Mercosur

French farmers protesting pay and conditions and a prospective EU-Latin America trade deal on Wednesday lifted a blockade on the Spanish border after an expression of support from Prime Minister Michel Barnier.

French farmers stepped up their protests Tuesday against a proposed trade pact between the European Union and four South American countries, blocking a key motorway on the border with Spain and vowing to sow "chaos."

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Sunday "the devil is always in the details" as she spoke of a budding South America trade deal that France has vowed to block at all costs.

French President Emmanuel Macron begins a week-long visit to South America on Saturday, starting with the G20 summit in Brazil and continuing with stops in Argentina and Chile. Officially aimed at "relaunching cooperation" with the region, the trip also seeks to stall the unpopular Mercosur trade deal.

French unions across multiple sectors are calling for strikes and protests in the coming weeks, driven by frustration over planned layoffs and budget reforms. The government has proposed €60 billion in cuts and tax hikes to tackle the country's debt.

French farmers have protested against a trade deal that would increase agricultural imports from South America, saying it hurt their livelihoods

South American free trade bloc Mercosur held its presidential summit on Monday in Paraguay without Argentina's President Javier Milei, who was in Brazil for a conference of Latin American conservatives. The snub was slammed as "complete foolishness" by Brazil's leader Luis Inacio Lula da Silva and underlines the political frictions…

Mercosur faces internal discord and stalled trade agreements, impacting regional integration.

The most notable thing about the annual Mercosur summit kicking off in Paraguay is an absence — that of Argentine President Javier Milei