AMERICA - Argentina and Brazil have announced they do not support Venezuela as the pro tempore presidency of Mercosur

Wednesday, 3 August 2016 area crisis   economy   human rights  

Asuncion (Agenzia Fides) - Crisis within Mercosur after Uruguay left the temporary presidency of the Common Market of South America on 29 July.
The chair transfer should have taken place with Uruguay, handing the presidency to Venezuela. However, the other Mercosur countries did not recognize this act.
A note sent to Fides by Adital agency, recalls that Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil with different emphasis, have rejected both Uruguay's decision to decline continuing with the presidency once its mandate was up, as well as the announcement by Venezuela that it now holds the Mercosur presidency, which is in line with the alphabetical order which prevails when it refers to the transfer. However, Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay have expressed reservations about the possibility that the Country chaired by Nicolas Maduro guides the group for human rights violations and repression of the opposition committed by the government he chairs.
Mercosur (Mercado Común del Sur) country members are: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. Bolivia and Chile (since 1996), Peru (since 2003), Colombia and Ecuador (since 2004) are also associated States. Venezuela became a full member of the organization on July 31, 2012, after 6 years since the start of the process, which was hampered by the opposition of Paraguay.
The goal of Mercosur is the creation of a Latin American common market, although there are still strong protectionist barriers among the various States. It could be compared to the old MEC if there were no significant asymmetries among the various Countries; In fact, if one can say that the three largest countries in the European Common Market were quite similar with regards to economic and historical experiences, one cannot say the same thing for Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay: Brazil alone produces approximately 77% of the group's economic output, Argentina 20%, Uruguay 2%, and Paraguay 1%. (CE) (Agenzia Fides, 02/08/2016)


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