Paraguay's president Santiago Pena addresses the 78th Session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, U.S., September 19, 2023. Pena has criticized the progress of talks between the two trade blocs since before he took office in August. The deal between Mercosur - the trade bloc composed of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay - and the EU hit snags in 2019 after a so-called side letter from the EU requiring environmental safeguards. Lula, as well as EU Ambassador to Paraguay Javier Garcia de Viedma, have said they believe an EU-Mercosur deal was feasible by the end of 2023. "I think we are very close," Garcia de Viedma told reporters on Monday.

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Persons: Santiago Pena, Eduardo Munoz, Pena, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Lula, Paraguay Javier Garcia de Viedma, Garcia de Viedma, Daniela Desantis, Sarah Morland, Mark Potter Organizations: General Assembly, REUTERS, Rights, European Union, Reuters, EU, Mercosur, United Nations General Assembly, United, United Arab Emirates, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Rights ASUNCION, Paraguayan, Mercosur, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay, New York, Singapore, United Arab, EU