While it has been over three years since it was agreed, in principle, to bring Venezuela into Mercosur, final formal entry remains in abeyance until the Brazilian and Paraguayan legislatures approve the deal.
While the the Foreign Relations Committee of the Brazilian Senate voted 12-5 to move the agreement to the floor last month, the whole Senate has now decided to postpone a vote.
According to El Tiempo:
El Senado brasileño decidió ayer postergar la votación sobre el ingreso de Venezuela al Mercosur, prevista para hoy, debido al "clima" creado por el presidente venezolano, Hugo Chávez, al advertir de una posible "guerra" con Colombia.
[Yesterday the Brazilian Senate decided to postpone the scheduled vote on Venezuelan entry into Mercosur due to the “climate” created by the statements of Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez concerning a possible “war” with Colombia.]
This situation demonstrates the delicate balancing game that Chávez is playing. On the one hand, the (still pending) admission to Mercosur is at least in part about being taken seriously as a regional power. On the other hand, his inflammatory rhetoric is very much about appealing to the ALBA states and demonstrating that he is standing up to the Yanquis. The two positions are not always compatible. It is true that the Mercosur states wish to balance off US economic power in the region. They do not, however, wish to engage in empty, belligerent confrontations with the US.
Sphere: Related Content
