MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“Conditions not right yet” for Venezuela’s incorporation to Mercosur admits Paraguay

Paraguayan Foreign Affairs Lacognata said the country has “other priorities”

The Paraguayan government will not send do Congress the protocol for the incorporation to Venezuela to Mercosur because conditions for its approval are non existent yet, said the country’s Foreign Affairs minister Héctor Lacognata.

Paraguay is the only full member of Mercosur, made up also of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, whose parliament has not yet accepted the incorporation of Venezuela, thus postponing President Hugo Chavez ambition of belonging to the South American group.

The Paraguayan congress dominated by the opposition is highly critical of President Chavez and has repeatedly denied considering the initiative in spite of the several requests from Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo.

“Conditions so far are not right for considering the issue” admitted Lacognata talking informally with journalists at Government House in Asunción.

The Paraguayan government has insisted in the incorporation of Venezuela arguing that it will help counter the overwhelming influence of Mercosur senior members Argentina and Brazil over the smaller members’ economies, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Nevertheless it was forced to withdraw the initiative from Congress for Venezuela’s Mercosur incorporation in August 2009, given an imminent negative vote in the Senate.

When asked if the Paraguayan government will begin a round of talks with members of parliament to reactivate the situation and send the adhesion protocol, Lacognata said that “at the moment we have other priorities”.

Earlier this week it was announced that Paraguayan Vice President Federico Franco and Minister Lacognata had been instructed to begin a round of talks with members of Congress to help find a way out to the current freeze on Venezuela’s incorporation to Mercosur and Paraguay’s membership of Unasur, Union of South American Nations, another political and security regional organization of which conservative Paraguayan lawmakers are highly suspicious.

Unasur is the brain-child of Brazil and Paraguay has long standing ‘neighbourly feuds’ with Latinamerica’s largest economy and most influential country in the region.

Besides Paraguayan senators question President Chavez commitment to democracy and accuse him of openly interfering and intervening in other countries domestic affairs.

Venezuela is currently Paraguay’s main supplier of fuel and one of the leading markets for Paraguayan beef.