Economy
The governments of Paraguay and Venezuela restarted on Thursday talks to settle an account of more than USD 250 million owned by Paraguayan state-run oil company Petropar to its counterpart Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa), authorities reported.

The debt threatened to make unfeasible the administration of Petropar. The firm imports most of the fuel consumed in Paraguay and subsidizes diesel prices.

Pdvsa high-ranking officials started in Asunción meetings with their colleagues of Petropar in order to negotiate the debt incurred by the provision of diesel. The talks follow the discussions that began last week in Bariloche on the occasion of the Unasur summit.

Earlier, Presidents Fernando Lugo of Paraguay and Hugo Chávez of Venezuela met to deal with the financing. In the meantime, in Asunción, political opponents warned against the possibility of Pdvsa claiming the major stake in the Paraguayan firm. Both governments denied these claims, Reuters quoted.