U.S. Ambassador to Paraguay, James Cason, said on Friday that his nation was not trying to destabilize the Southern Common Market (Mercosur), a charge repeatedly made by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

After meeting with Paraguayn Foreign Minister Leila Rachid, Cason told the press that the United States had nothing to do with destabilizing Mercosur, and it was not campaigning against any gas pipelines.

Washington "always supports Latin American integration projects, and links between the nations, which improve trade," he said.

Mercosur is a trade bloc made up of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. Venezuela is in the process of joining.

During his meeting with Rachid, Cason signed the renewal of an agreement, under which the two countries agreed to maintain seismic detection systems that can detect earthquakes, seaquakes and nuclear tests.

The pact is similar to the one signed by the U.S. Ambassador to Argentina, Lino Guiterrez, with the government months ago.

Source: Xinhua