Venezuela formally joins Mercosur

[Leigh Meyers <leighcmeyers@xxxxxxxxx>]

...and the sabers begin to rattle:
.
> Michael Shifter, an analyst at the Inter-American Dialogue in 
> Washington, said Venezuela's entry should be a ``wake-up call'' for 
> U.S. officials who have been distracted from Latin America by conflict 
> in the Middle East.
>
> ``Mercosur seems to have less and less to do with free trade and more 
> to do with politics,'' he said.
.
Posted on Sat, Jul. 22, 2006

Regional trade bloc welcomes Venezuela
CHÃVEZ URGES GROUP TO FIGHT U.S.-BACKED TRADE POLICIES
http://www.miami.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/15099248.htm?source=rss&channel=mercurynews_world

By Bill Cormier
Associated Press

CORDOBA, Argentina - Venezuela formally entered Mercosur on Friday, 
increasing the South American trade bloc's economic might and vowing to 
transform the once-sleepy policy organization into a force for profound 
social change.

President Nestor Kirchner welcomed the ``historic'' addition of oil-rich 
Venezuela, the continent's No. 3 economy after Brazil and Argentina, 
launching a round of speeches by Latin America's leading leftists, who 
asserted the region's independence from a Washington model many of their 
citizens see as a failure.

Anti-U.S. crusader Hugo ChÃvez immediately urged Mercosur to put aside 
internal squabbles and stand against the U.S.-backed free-market 
policies he says ``enslaved'' the region in debt to the International 
Monetary Fund.

``Latin America has all it needs to become a great world power. Let's 
not put any limits on our dreams. Let's make them reality,'' the 
Venezuelan leader declared.

The addition of Venezuela gives Mercosur a combined market of 250 
million people and a combined output of $1 trillion in goods and 
services annually, said Brazil's president, Luiz InÃcio Lula da Silva.

NAFTA, combining the markets of the United States, Canada and Mexico, 
has 450 million consumers and a combined gross product of about $14 
trillion.

Still, da Silva said ``no one's talking anymore'' about the U.S.-backed 
Free Trade of the Americas proposal blocked by Venezuela and the 
Mercosur nations last year.

Silva called on his fellow leaders to work together to bring Bolivia and 
other nations into Mercosur, making it even more powerful.

``Who knows?'' da Silva said. ``We could come to have a Merco-America 
and not just a Mercosur!''

Cuban President Fidel Castro and Bolivian President Evo Morales, taking 
part as observers, applauded their ally ChÃvez, who praised Castro's 
willingness to send doctors and teachers to their countries. ChÃvez said 
the Cuban leader ``can help us all a great deal'' as Mercosur makes 
greater efforts to end poverty, hunger and joblessness.

``We are entering a new stage of Mercosur,'' ChÃvez said.

Kirchner agreed, saying a growing Mercosur should fight inequality as a 
way of bolstering their nations' economies and helping them compete in 
the global economy. ``Democracy, human rights, liberty and the fight 
against poverty'' are the basis for a ``new world order'' in the region, 
one with its own identity, Kirchner declared.

Castro, who traded his green army fatigues for a crisp blue suit, noted 
the friendly atmosphere, getting loud laughs when he told ChÃvez, 
``Hugo, I am listening to you, almost like a student!''

But the gathered leftists presidents became more serious as Castro 
railed against U.S.-style capitalism and defended Cuba's economic model.

The Mercosur leaders also concluded a deal Friday to foster greater 
trade with Cuba, despite a 45-year-old U.S. embargo of the island. The 
accord, announced here, is intended to foster a greater exchange of 
goods between Mercosur nations and Cuba through tariff reductions and a 
promise that neither side will arbitrarily increase import fees or taxes.

Such developments have worried those who lament the decline of U.S. 
influence in the region.

Michael Shifter, an analyst at the Inter-American Dialogue in 
Washington, said Venezuela's entry should be a ``wake-up call'' for U.S. 

officials who have been distracted from Latin America by conflict in the 
Middle East.

``Mercosur seems to have less and less to do with free trade and more to 
do with politics,'' he said.

Once confined to the Southern Cone nations of Brazil, Argentina, 
Paraguay and Uruguay, Mercosur now ranges north to Venezuela's Caribbean 
coast.

``It is hard to see the geographical logic behind Mercosur anymore,'' 
Shifter said. ``But the political logic is one basically opposed to the 
United States. It's an effort to try to build and consolidate an 
alternative alliance to U.S.-backed free trade policies.''

Uruguayan leftist Tabare VÃzquez and Nicanor Duarte of Paraguay also 
took part, and Chile's moderate leftist President Michelle Bachelet 
attended as an observer.