Bolivia’s Planning Minister Rene Orellana reported Feb. 19 that Peru’s Deputy Foreign Minister Juan Carlos Alurralde had contacted him, requesting a ministerial-level meeting to discuss establishing a company to manage the Bioceanic Central Railway Corridor (CFBC), the daily La Razón reported Feb. 20. When built, the CFBC will traverse South America from the Brazilian port of Santos on the Atlantic, across Bolivia to Peru’s Pacific Coast port of Ilo.

At the same time, a meeting between a delegation from Brazil’s Planning Ministry and Bolivia’s Public Works and Planning ministries is scheduled to occur today in Santa Cruz for three days, to discuss the technical, economic, and financial feasibility of the CFBC megaproject. Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff has said she supports the CFBC project as “complementary” to the northern bioceanic route financed by China, which would go from Brazil to Peru, excluding Bolivia. But Evo Morales has been organizing very aggressively for the CFBC route—far more than Peru or Brazil—emphasizing its enormous economic benefits for countries such as Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Chile, all located in South America’s middle and southern regions.

Crucial here, is that, in the midst of a global financial meltdown, the discussion on regional integration is continuing, destabilizations and economic crises of the participating countries notwithstanding. On Feb. 18, Ernesto Samper, the Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur), was in Bolivia and announced that Unasur has committed itself “to supporting the bioceanic railroad that will extend from Peru, passing through central Bolivia, to the port of Santos in Brazil.” Bolivia’s Public Works Minister Milton Claros reported that Unasur’s South American Infrastructure and Planning Council (Cosiplan), has identified the CFBC as one of the regional entity’s priority projects. Both Claros and Planning Minister Orellana met privately with Samper to discuss the project in greater detail.

Parts of last week’s Kommersant interview with Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin, have been published in English by Russia Beyond the Headlines. In that interview, Churkin said that Syrian President Assad’s statement of last week, that he would fight until complete victory is achieved, conflicts with Russia’s goals in Syria.

Churkin went on to say, that Russia’s military strategy in Syria is aimed at the defeat of terrorism and that Russia believes that this will make a political settlement possible.

“The most intransigent oppositionists, who are supported by Turkey and Saudi Arabia, are still convinced that they can ‘break’ Damascus,” he said. “This was one of the reasons for continuing the conflict. Now, I hope, they and those who support them will understand that a political settlement is necessary. The Americans have already understood this.” He noted that the oppositionists continue to say that the sooner Assad leaves, the better, but the U.S. has moved away from that position since the beginning of the Russian military intervention.

RBTH also published in English the Kommersant article accompanying the Churkin interview, which reports — quoting a number of Moscow-based experts — that Moscow and Damascus seriously disagree on the way forward.

“Bashar Assad’s latest statements prove that Moscow and Damascus’ positions on key issues concerning Syria’s regulation seriously diverge,” Kommersant reports. “Moscow is calling on Damascus to accept the political solution within the framework of the Geneva process, while Damascus prefers to use force combined with ‘local truces.’ In the opinion of many experts interviewed by Kommersant, Bashar Assad’s chosen course not only hinders Russia from converting its military successes in Syria into political dividends, but also threatens to further aggravate Russia’s relations with the West and the Arabic world.”