MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Mercosur is over.

“Mercosur is over, it has proved a complete failure, since Brazil constitutionally is too dependent on its governors and can't ensure a common currency or agree macroeconomic policies for the block”.

The devastating remarks belong to Carlos Escudé a scholar and former aid of Dr. Guido Di Tella who praised former president Carlos Menem's foreign policy and suggested Argentina should attempt to become less "Brazil dependent". "Brazilian governors are so powerful they can derail any federal macroeconomic policy and therefore the currency, as we have seen this happen", said Mr. Escudé adding that it's time to cut losses and forget Mercosur. Mr. Escudé argues Mercosur is only a good business for Brazil, and Argentina should try to recover its autonomy and begin serious trade talks with United States. However he admitted that there's a strong anti American feeling in the ruling Argentine coalition which makes this option difficult. "If you look the map, Mercosur is impressive, but United States in 2000 grew the equivalent of a Brazilian economy", stressed Mr. Escudé. Di Tella's former aid argued that daring decisions are needed in foreign policy: "When Menem in 1990 sent two small frigates to the Gulf, (which wouldn't make any difference), and voted against Cuba regarding human rights, Argentina turned from an irrelevant nation to a reliable ally of the United States". Mr. Escudé suggested Argentina should openly support the US sponsored "Colombia" plan to combat drug trade and its guerrilla connections. Regarding the recent allegations of illegal arms sales, Mr. Escudé also pointed out that Argentina needs to learn what pragmatic, national interests. "Sending weapons to Croatia was ethical, and we were also helping US policy to prevent Serbians from massacring Muslims. We were avoiding a genocide", indicated Mr. Escudé adding that "in the Ecuador case, we consolidated our relations and trust with Chile, which are essential for Argentina". Mr. Escudé explained that Argentina traditionally has been an ally of Peru, to counterbalance Chile, but having sent weapons to Ecuador, that was fighting Peru, "we conquered the hearts of even the most hawkish Chileans". Finally Mr. Escudé recalled that in 1977 during the Carter administration when sanctions were imposed on Argentina and Chile for human rights violations, a similar attitude was expected towards South Korea and Iran. "