Questions raised on Venezuela joining Mercosur
MORE than six years after Hugo Chavez said that joining Mercosur was Venezuela’s destiny, the presidents of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay have decided that his oil-rich nation will finally become the fifth full member of the common market.
Venezuela holds the world’s largest crude oil reserves and the move potentially links the region’s top energy and agricultural suppliers.
But the decision at last week’s summit to welcome Venezuela into Mercosur after the leaders temporarily suspended Paraguay has brought questions about the move’s timing and legality. Such decisions must be unanimous under Mercosur rules, and Paraguay’s senate has long objected to Venezuela’s membership.
“Venezuela’s entry into Mercosur was carried out through an announcement … but there’s no legal or diplomatic protocol that guarantees its entry. There’s nothing in writing,” said Paraguay’s new foreign minister, Jose Felix Fernandez.
Fernandez assumed that post after President Fernando Lugo was impeached and removed by Paraguay’s congress. Other Mercosur countries criticised the one-day trial as an “institutional coup” and suspend Paraguay’s membership.
Venezuela’s foreign minister, Nicolas Maduro, assured that his country has indeed become a full Mercosur member after years as an associate member. “Now the legal step will be taken,” he said.
Lugo had supported Venezuelan membership in Mercosur, but conservative Paraguayan lawmakers criticised Chavez as anti-democratic and opposed bringing his country into the group. Suspending Paraguay after Lugo’s ouster removed the Paraguayan veto.
The full deal still needs to be signed July 31 at Mercosur’s next meeting in Rio de Janeiro. But despite vows of challenges in international courts by conservative lawmakers in Paraguay and Uruguay, some analysts say the move was legal — even if it was opportunistic.
“This was a decision that had the consent of three presidents,” said Antonio Jorge Ramalho, a professor of international relations at the University of Brasilia. “According to Mercosur statutes, decisions are taken by consensus within the bloc.”
Consensus has rarely been achieved within the group, which was founded in 1991 to foster open trade through shared customs rules. Despite that goal, Argentina and Brazil limit imports, leading the smaller Paraguay and Uruguay to accuse the regional powerhouses of protectionism.
While suspending Paraguay until its next presidential election, the other Mercosur presidents decided against imposing economic sanctions over Lugo’s ouster, a move that would have been a big blow to the landlocked country, which is among South America’s poorest nations. Half of Paraguay’s trade is with Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.
Other associate Mercosur members include Bolivia, Chile, Colombia and Peru, but they have limited influence in the group and lack veto power.
Among the more prominent critics of Venezuela’s entry is Uruguayan Foreign Minister Luis Almagro, who suggests that Argentina and Brazil forced the decision on much smaller Uruguay.