PRIME Minister Moses Nagamootoo yesterday arrived in Asuncion, Paraguay for the 49th Heads of States Summit of Mercosur which opens today.Guyana is being represented by Prime Minister Nagamootoo and Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Audrey Waddell.
This country is an associated member of the South American trade bloc.
Yesterday, the Prime Minister was a guest with foreign ministers and ministers of finance and trade at a luncheon hosted by Paraguay’s Foreign Minister Eladio Loizaga.
According to Pan–Latin American terrestrial and satellite television network TeleSUR, this will be the bloc’s first meeting since Argentina and Venezuela’s recent elections, which saw right-wing parties come to power for the first time in years, changing regional dynamics.
Leaders from all of the participating nations have confirmed their attendance at the conference, including Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, Venezuela and Paraguay.
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet will also attend, in attempts to strengthen regional integration, even though Chile is not an official member of Mercosur.
This will be the first Mercosur — or Common Market of the South — meeting since Argentina’s general election, which saw Mauricio Macri and the right-wing Republican Proposal (PRO) party take power, TeleSUR reported.
It said the elections are expected to cause a shift in the bloc’s dynamics, in which most countries involved have left leaning democratic governments, with close ties to Venezuela.
Macri has already presented some challenges for the trade bloc after he promised last month to expel Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro from the group.
Macri, who is a known friend of Venezuelan opposition members, claims President Maduro is wrongfully jailing opposition members.
The Argentinian President is expected to hold firm on his stance against President Maduro, since the Venezuelan President and the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela lost control of the National Assembly in elections earlier this month.
Some of Macri’s national policies may prove to be conflicting with the Mercosur trade bloc. In his short time in office, he has already decreased export taxes and changed import rules in Argentina in order to open up the South American country to foreign companies.
South American leaders today are expected to discuss ways to facilitate stagnant intra-regional trade, which may involve reducing trade barriers and advanced integration mechanisms.
Some of these include discussing trade possibilities with other mega blocs such as the United States, the European Union, China, Russia, Southeast Asia and India, according to reports by Diario Bae.
Mercosur’s full member states are also supported by six associate nations from Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Guyana and Suriname. Collectively, the group has a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$4.58 trillion, and is home to some 275 million people, almost 70 per cent of South America’s population.
The Mercosur trade bloc has its roots in the 1991 Treaty of Asuncion, when the nations of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay set up a common market to ease tariffs and spur commerce.