Paraguay Aims to Regain Mercosur Membership

Following the April 21 presidential election, Paraguay’s government now hopes to gain readmission to one of South America’s major trade blocs. The Southern Common Market (Mercosur) consists of Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Venezuela and boasts a combined GDP of nearly $3 trillion. Paraguay was suspended from the regional organization following the June 2012 impeachment of President Fernando Lugo, as leaders called the procedure anti-democratic. In the coming months, Paraguay’s new leader will push the country’s congress to approve Venezuela’s membership in the bloc—a requirement in order to be readmitted.

Now, President-elect Horacio Cartes aims to get Paraguay back into Mercosur, saying it is “too important” not to do so. However, Brazil will condition Paraguay’s return to the bloc by accepting Venezuela’s membership. The Andean country officially joined Mercosur in July 2012, though Paraguay’s Congress never ratified Venezuela as a member. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro called Cartes to congratulate him on Tuesday, saying: “We need Paraguay in Mercosur…because we miss them, because they’re our brothers.” Despite his goal to get back into the bloc, Cartes said he would not attend Mercosur’s next heads-of-state summit on June 28, since he won’t take office until August.

While Cartes supports Venezuela as part of Mercosur, he still needs the Senate to finally ratify the membership. The president-elect said this week that Congress would be willing to vote in favor of Venezuela, and that the new Colorado Party majority in the Senate would “give legitimacy” to the process. Cartes vowed to convince members of Congress, noting that senators shouldn’t impede investments and job creation that Mercosur would bring. Rogelio Benítez, head of the right-leaning Colorados in the Senate, said legislators would take the Venezuela question into account, and that it is a priority to stay in the bloc. Lugo—who won a Senate seat representing the left-leaning Authentic Radical Liberal Party—said today that he hopes to normalize Paraguay-Venezuela relations, and for his country to rejoin Mercosur. 

However, some senators oppose admitting Venezuela as a member, and even favor Paraguay leaving Mercosur altogether. For example, the Liberal Party has long opposed Venezuela’s membership; one Liberal senator explained this week that he supports Mercosur, but not with Venezuela as a part of it. 

In addition to resolving Paraguay’s membership, the bloc hopes to reinitiate stalled free-trade talks with the European Union. EU officials encouraged Mercosur to “normalize” relations with Paraguay following the election before these discussions begin. Brazil’s Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota said he expected negotiations to take place before the end of the year. Mercosur could also see a sixth member join. Bolivia signed an agreement to become a member last year; now, all member countries’ congresses must ratify the accord.