MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Off to the Mercosur get-together

Economy Minister Roberto Lavagna today joins with President Néstor Kirchner for travel to Brazil to take part in the Mercosur summit that kicks off in the Brazilian city of Ouro Preto tomorrow.

The summit takes place amidst bickering by Argentina and Brazil over Argentina's intent to impose safeguards so as to restrict Brazilian imports.

Industrialists in Argentina have also pointed out that the trade deficit in industrial goods with Brazil has reached a record high this year.

Today, the Common Market Group, the executive organization of the Mercosur, is scheduled to meet in Belo Horizonte to define the documents that will be signed by the presidents at the summit.

Besides Kirchner and Brazilian President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, Jorge Batlle from Uruguay and Nicanor Duarte Frutos from Paraguay will also be present as well as Chilean President Ricardo Lagos and Bolivia's Carlos Meza.

According to Lavagna "the Mercosur will be useful as long as we apply the Asunción Treaty, something that has not occurred up to now."

While trade among the Mercosur nations has grown since the zone was created, the bloc has lost much of its prestige because it never managed to slash trade barriers that were supposed to be reduced years ago.

Marcos Jank, who heads Sao Paulo's Institute for International Trade Negotiations, compares Mercosur to a suitcase without a handle, saying the bloc runs the risk of becoming irrelevant.(BAH)