[NYTr] Venezuela’s Mercosur entry stalled in Brazilian Congress

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Mercopress - Jan 7, 2008
http://www.mercopress.com/vernoticia.do?id=12335&formato=HTML

Venezuela’s Mercosur entry stalled in Brazilian Congress

The recent end of the year episode of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez
with the Colombian cocaine-funded guerrilla FARC and the failed
handover of hostages could further imperil the Brazilian Congress
approval of Venezuela’s incorporation to Mercosur. Zoom Brazilian
Deputy Raul Jungman, member of the Lower House Foreign Affairs
committee said that Chavez actions have contributed to deteriorate the
image of Venezuela in both chambers of the Brazilian Congress.

“His attitude reinforces the feeling that Chavez is an autocratic and
histrionic president”, said Congress member Jungman, who defined the
whole incident, which had an unexpected fiasco end, as “self promotion”.

The Foreign Affairs and Constitution and Justice committees of the
Brazilian Lower House a few months ago approved a project for the
incorporation of Venezuela to Mercosur, which triggered much
controversy and debate, since some members questioned the “democratic
commitment” of President Chavez, an essential requisite for any country
wishing to become a member of South America’s largest trade group, and
enshrined in the Brazilian constitution.

Furthermore Chavez had accused the Brazilian Senate of acting as a
“parrot of Washington’s orders” and being “a representative for the
Brazilian bourgeois” which caused much irritation.

Even President Lula da Silva had to intervene in the incident in
defense of the Senate and asking Chavez what he meant by such
statements.

This anticipates that the Brazilian approval of Venezuela’s entry to
Mercosur is going to be long and controversial. It still has to be
approved by both houses and the Senate, and in the Senate the Lula da
Silva administration does not have a majority having recently lost
crucial votes on taxing. Anyhow the issue won’t be addressed until
March, since after Carnival the Brazilian Congress is closed down.

The opposition also criticized that President Lula da Silva should have
sent his main advisor Marco Aurelio Garcia as a member of the
delegation of international representatives to the failed handover of
hostages.