Monday, July 23rd 2012 - 09:23 UTC

Mercosur Review Tribunal rejects Paraguay’s demand against suspension

Mercosur Standing Review Tribunal rejected Paraguay’s demand against its temporary suspension from the trade and integration group and the inclusion of Venezuela as a full member.

Former Peruvian PM Salomon Lerner will head the Unasur High Level group

According to the tribunal’s resolution which was adopted on Saturday but only announced on Sunday, the July 9 presentation does not give rise to a demand. The resolution said that the case will not be considered since the needed procedural instances for the presentation of controversy cases had not been complied.

The demand was presented by the administration of President Federico Franco who replaced Fernando Lugo, removed from office a month ago following a summary impeachment by the Senate, but following constitutional procedure.

The Tribunal which sits in Asuncion is made up of two members from Brazil and one each from Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

The Paraguayan Foreign Affairs ministry, through one of its solicitors, said that once the resolution is formally delivered the Paraguayan government will draft a reply.

On June 29, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay decided to suspend Paraguay from the group until next year’s general election because with the removal of Lugo the country had suffered a “democratic rupture”. The three countries during the recent summit Mendoza also decided to admit Venezuela as a full member.

The decision is controversial since Mercosur works on a consensus basis. The other regional integration group, Unasur but which includes all of South America’s countries also decided to suspend Paraguay until April 2013 when elections are scheduled.

Unasur also decided to name a high level group to follow the Paraguayan situation which will be formally implemented as of Monday in the Peruvian capital Lima, since Peru currently holds the group’s rotating chair.

The first meeting is scheduled to take place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Lima and will be headed by Peruvian former PM Salomon Lerner. The other members of the high level group are: Ambassador Glenn Alvares from Suriname; Guillermo Patriota from Brazil; Lorena Escudero from Ecuador; Rodolfo Mattarollo from Argentina and Arturo Fermando from Chile.
 

Published in: Politics, Latin America, Mercosur.
Tags: Federico Franco, Fernando Lugo, Mercosur, Mercosur Summit - Mendoza, Paraguay, Peru, Salomon Lerner, Unasur.

9 comments Feed

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1 Idlehands (#) Jul 23rd, 2012 - 09:31 am Report abuse
This highlights that Mercosur has all the credibility of a Mickey Mouse cartoon - but without the fun bits.
2 Conqueror (#) Jul 23rd, 2012 - 10:53 am Report abuse
All being well, Paraguay will now have the sense to dump mercosur and join the Pacific Alliance.
3 TreborDoyle (#) Jul 23rd, 2012 - 12:24 pm Report abuse
Just when you think it can't get any more hopeless, the South Americans kill the patient!

Credibility gone, Paraguay should follow and leave Mercosur to its own stupidity.
4 British_Kirchnerist (#) Jul 23rd, 2012 - 02:17 pm Report abuse
Mercosur has shown itself to be credible here, no modern integrtion body should allow a coup in one of its members to go unpunished
5 Idlehands (#) Jul 23rd, 2012 - 02:22 pm Report abuse
You don't think the suspension was designed to push through the membership of Venezuela then BK? All hunky dory and above board? Please advise what laws were broken in Paraguay to oust their president?

NB You forgot to mention how pretty the old harridan is - your standards are slipping.
6 ChrisR (#) Jul 23rd, 2012 - 02:23 pm Report abuse
But was anybody surprised after the kangaroo court, saying it would wait for the result of the appeal and then changed it's mind and, confirmed the suspension anyway?
7 agent999 (#) Jul 23rd, 2012 - 04:00 pm Report abuse
Why does Brazil get two members on the tribunal ?
8 JoseAngeldeMonterrey (#) Jul 23rd, 2012 - 05:36 pm Report abuse
Mercosur had a second chance to resolve the conflict appropriately. They could have called on constitutionalist experts to debate whether it was legal for Paraguay´s constitution to depose Lugo, but they did not.

Now Paraguay has no other option but to get out of Mercosur.
9 Conqueror (#) Jul 23rd, 2012 - 05:37 pm Report abuse
mercosur is, without doubt, an imperialist, colonialist, totalitarian, dictatorial “organisation”. Democracy? It doesn't know the meaning of the word. Just look at BK. Internal constitutional action = “coup”. Removal of corrupt president = “coup”. Let's make some comparisons. Did Paraguay threaten anyone outside its borders? Only if legitimacy is a threat. Was Iraq a threat? Under Saddam Hussein - yes. SH threatened the whole “stability” of the Middle East. It attacked Kuwait. It threatend and attacked Saudi Arabia. It threatened and attacked Israel. Afghanistan? A “home” for the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Lawless, terrorist organisations similar to El Campora. And what's the other one? The argie raghead cowards.
But mercosur does have something in common with argieland and BK. Shite. Built on it. Made of it. And full of it!

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