An Argentine government minister has been found hanged in his hotel room in the Uruguayan capital Montevideo during a summit meeting of the South American trade group Mercosur.
Ivan Heyn, 33, Argentina's undersecretary of trade, was found dead at the Radisson Hotel.
Jose Luis Rondan, a police spokesman, told a news conference “he apparently died by hanging” with a belt.
He said police were trying to determine whether it was a suicide, a crime or an accident. A Uruguayan official earlier said that Heyn had committed suicide.
An investigating judge told local media that the circumstances surrounding Heyn's death remained unclear.
According to Al Jazeera, news of his death shocked the Mercosur summit, attended by the presidents of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Argentine President Cristina Kirchner de Fernandez was informed about the death while she was attending a closed door meeting of the presidents, and was so upset she was seen by her doctor.
Organisers have cancelled a planned official picture taking of the South American leaders.
The security presence has been stepped up at the hotel, where some of the leaders attending the summit are staying.
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