MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Mercosur is the world's third-largest trade bloc.

Brazil's president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called Monday for deeper trade ties among members of South America's largest trade bloc to help ease economic turmoil engulfing the region.

Silva, who was in Argentina on his first foreign trip since being elected Oct. 27, said the visit to his country's biggest trading partner was intended to highlight the need for greater regional integration.

"It should be understood as an expression by the Brazilian government to give a decisive push to the reconstruction of Mercosur," said Silva, referring to the trade bloc that includes Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. Chile and Bolivia are associate members.

The calls for greater economic cooperation are also seen as part of Silva's strategy to increase the region's bargaining power in negotiations with the United States on a hemisphere-wide trade zone.

Mercosur is the world's third-largest trade bloc, with a combined gross domestic product of $1 trillion. Most member nations, however, are struggling with financial crises, including Argentina and Brazil, the region's two economic powerhouses.

Silva called on South American countries to "establish a new economic model."

"We have left ourselves at the mercy of speculators who don't even know where our countries are," he said.

"The message I received from Brazilians was that we need to retake the control of our own destiny, we have to build our future ourselves," he said, calling Mercosur a natural first step.

The Brazilian leader spoke of one day agreeing on a common currency, a possible Mercosur parliament and greater educational and cultural links between member nations.

Hoping to revitalize the struggling trade bloc, member nations approved a plan last month that would allow people to work in member countries and more easily obtain citizenship.

The plan is expected to be formalized when Mercosur presidents meet in Brasilia on Friday.