Argentina underlined late Monday that the decision on the incorporation of Venezuela as full member of Mercosur was “unanimously” supported by the presidents from Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay during the group’s summit last Friday hosted by President Cristina Fernandez.
The Uruguayan government said that it accepted the incorporation of Venezuela as full member of Mercosur as part of a “negotiation” in which it demanded no economic sanctions on Paraguay and that is why “the last word has not been said” on the issue.
The leading member from Brazil’s main opposition political party described Uruguay’s claim that consensus was absent in the Mercosur decision to suspend Paraguay and to incorporate Venezuela as “extremely serious” and complained Mercosur has become a merely “ideological” grouping.
The new Paraguayan authorities have named a special committee of prosecutors to inquiry into the alleged meeting between Venezuelan Foreign Affairs minister Nicolas Maduro and Paraguayan military during the recent impeachment process.
The Uruguayan government revealed on Monday its disagreement with the way Venezuela’s incorporation to Mercosur was decided last Friday at the summit held in Mendoza, Argentina, and said “it was not the last word” since the process must be reviewed from a juridical point of view.
President Cristina Fernández took to her Twitter account to say that “the fundamental goal in the unity of the region must be to make sure that the global crisis has the less kind of possible impact in the development of our nations.”
The Paraguayan government named a special committee of military, police and diplomatic officials to help avoid possible incidents of violence when the fact-finding delegation from the Organization of American States, arrives in Asuncion.
Paraguay’s government blasted Mercosur decision of incorporating Venezuela as a full member of the bloc before finishing the legislative procedure to do so and did not discard the possibility of having the Paraguayan people “decide whether to remain or not in Mercosur”.
Unasur, Union of South American nations on Friday suspended Paraguay from the group following the ouster of the country's former president, Fernando Lugo. The decision was adopted at an extraordinary meeting in Mendoza, Argentina where earlier in the day Mercosur members adopted a similar measure.
President Federico Franco announced in a press conference that if Paraguay is suspended from Mercosur the country will feel free to look for other trade agreements and international relations.