|
The 30th Mercosur presidential summit Friday, July 21, in Cordoba, Argentina, signaled the official incorporation of Venezuela as the block's fifth full member and the "unity in diversity" concept which seems to underlie the South American customs union.
Host President Nestor Kirchner welcomed the "historic" incorporation of oil-rich Venezuela, the continent's third largest economy after Brazil and Argentina and warned Mercosur still faces integration commitments and challenges, in a region that underwent "an economic meltdown and financial emptying". Mercosur and Latinamerican integration are "the heart of the regional block which is demanding a long, complex and sinuous process," adding that "coordination and cooperation aimed at a new equilibrium are needed." The new integration agenda is a strategy to address a globalized world, which means integrating to the world, "but not as it comes." The addition of Venezuela gives Mercosur a combined market of 250 million people and a combined output of US$ 1 trillion in goods and services annually which still is far behind Nafta, combining the markets of the United States, Canada and Mexico, with 450 million consumers and a combined gross product of about 14 trillion US$ 14 trillion. Kirchner said a growing Mercosur should fight inequality as a way of bolstering their nations' economies and helping them compete in the global economy. "Democracy, human rights, liberty and the fight against poverty" are the basis for a "new world order" in the region, one with its own identity. Mercosur leaders also concluded on an agreement to foster greater trade with Cuba, despite a 45-year-old U.S. embargo of the island. The accord is intended to promote a greater exchange of goods between Mercosur nations and Cuba through tariff reductions and a promise that neither side will arbitrarily hike import fees or taxes. Such developments have worried those who lament the decline of U.S. influence in the region. Uruguayan president Tabare Vazquez and Nicanor Duarte of Paraguay also took part, and Chile's moderate President Michelle Bachelet attended as an observer. Chile which does not share the economic approach of the majority of Mercosur and privileges open markets, low tariffs, competition and foreign investment, does acknowledge the political weight of the block, "the value of unity in diversity" and the "alternative options" emphasized President Bachelet. Bolivian President Evo Morales celebrated Castro's participation in the summit and said that if Cuba were to join Mercosur, the grassroots movements in Bolivia would "force" the government in La Paz to follow suit. The gathering in Cordoba was transformed into an "historic" event by "the presence of comrade and big brother Fidel, who always brings us clarity and gives us strength" said Evo Morales. Mercopress - www.mercopress.com
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Brazil received a huge boost in its international image with its selection as the host of the 2016 Olympics, but it was really just the cherry on top of the overall recognition of the country's ascension to the ranks of one of the world's most important countries. Now, as it finally takes its place on the world scene, there has been a great deal of concern about what kind of image Brazil hopes to project, now that the world is really paying attention. 
The only good thing to say about the visit to Brazil of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on Monday November 23, is that it was mercifully short and lasted less than 24 hours. Ahmadinejad had his picture taken being hugged by president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva who gave him a warm welcome and said Iran had every right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. 
The small, coastal town of Condé is located just a twenty minute's drive from João Pessoa, the capital of Paraíba. The Northeast of Brazil has historically been a place of encounter and mixing between peoples. For millenia groups of indigenous people fished, farmed, migrated and sometimes fought along this large, fertile area. 
The Brazilian diplo-MÁ-cia (bad diplomacy) carries on its accelerated course towards the non-acknowledgment of human rights, although sometimes it takes pleasure in saying that it does precisely the opposite. The visit of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is another example of a diplomatic omission that verges on hypocrisy. 
On July 4, 2006, representatives of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay met in Caracas to sign the protocol for the entrance of Venezuela into the Southern Common Market (Mercosur). After two and a half years, the protocol was approved by the legislative bodies of Argentina and Uruguay, and as of now it may be only days away from being ratified by the continent's economic megalith, Brazil. 
Some sectors of the fight against AIDS have suggested that Thabo Mbeki, the former president of South Africa, committed genocide through his absence from the fight against the illness in his country throughout his two terms. 
One hundred and eleven years after Brazil abolished slavery, the number of workers deprived of their freedom is still huge. They raise cattle, produce charcoal, sugar cane or timber. Some of them, most undocumented Bolivians, work in basements of small apparel factories in São Paulo and other metropolis. 
On November 7, 2009 a few friends and I had an opportunity to take a look inside a Brazilian jail outside the city of Rio de Janeiro. We were able to take some amateur footage of our experience on video (see link below). It's no surprise, of course, that the typical Brazilian jail lacks some of the functionality of those in North America or Europe, but our experience that day was quite shocking. 
Depletion of the Amazon Rainforest is not a new concern facing environmentalists, biologists, ecologists, and a growing number of the Amazonian indigenous peoples. For decades they have feared for the fate of the world's most biologically diverse and species-rich hothouse. 
Geisy Arruda made history this week in Brazil, but for all the wrong reasons. What began as a poorly planned fashion statement has become a worldwide tale. Geisy decided to wear a pink mini-dress to her private college in São Paulo state, and after that, all hell broke loose.