Trade bloc

Venezuela joins South America trade bloc

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• published: 21 Jul 2015
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1. Wide shot of Mercosur building 2. Mercosur banner in front of building 3. Wide shot of Mercosur building 4. Wide shot of Mercosur leaders' group photo 5. Wide shot of Mercosur building plenary hall 6. Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez 7. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Nestor Kirchner, Argentina President: "We would like to welcome Venezuela. The possibility of adding a new member like the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela shows our vitality through our path toward integration. This is a sign of opening new doors towards the rest of the continent. This new membership must be a step towards the formations of a concrete South American community, based on the idea that unity and integration will make us count as more." 8. Wide shot of plenary hall 9. Mid shot of Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva 10. Mid shot of Chile President Ricardo Lagos 11. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Hugo Chavez Frias, Venezuela President: "Someone once said that (Hugo) Chavez would be no good for Mercosur, they said he is going to politicise Mercosur. Well, yes, I do think we have to politicise Mercosur. I don't see that as a threat, we do need to make Mercosur more political. Like Lula (President Brazil) said, I too believe that Mercosur is a political project. Mercosur can't be an elitist project of oligarchs or big companies. It can't just be about mere economic interests." 12. Wide shot of plenary hall applauding Chavez speech 13. Wide of Mercosur building STORYLINE: South America's Mercosur nations formally put Venezuela on track on Friday to full membership in the trade bloc, a once sleepy customs union that has emerged as a key critic of the US-backed proposal to create a Free Trade Area of the Americas. The decision by leaders of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay gives Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, one of Washington's most strident opponents, a voice in Mercosur even as negotiators work out the policy changes needed before Venezuela can become a full voting member. Those talks may take another year. Argentinian President Nestor Kirchner said Mercosur's latest member shows "vitality through our path toward integration." Kirchner also called it a "a sign of opening new doors towards the rest of the continent." Several South American nations, including Argentina and Brazil have elected left-of-centre leaders this decade and Chavez, as the most outspoken foe of US free trade and market policies, has urged his neighbours to join him in a regional alliance independent of Washington. As the world's fifth-largest oil exporter and the continent's No. 3 economy, Venezuela's move for full membership will give Mercosur more economic heft. But Chavez stressed Friday that political power is equally important. "We do need to make Mercosur more political. Like Lula (President of Brazil) said. I too believe that Mercosur is a political project," Chavez added. Chavez briefly referred to free trade talks as a project of the "past" and said the region should be discussing new kinds of "free zones" for ending poverty, illiteracy and other ills affecting the region. Full membership will require Venezuela's integration into a broad common tariff policy that regulates imports and exports. Venezuela would also have to agree to common Mercosur arbitration for settling trade disputes and align its trade policies with the rest of the bloc. Venezuela has about 26 (m) million citizens, increasing the total population of Mercosur nations to 252 (m) million, almost 70 percent of South America's 362 (m) million people. With Venezuela a member, Mercosur would represent a striking 89 percent of the continent's 906 (b) billion dollars in goods and services produced each year. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/3d68d331b64f54bfb7b33abe365ac3da Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork