ARGENTINA: Mercosur countries meeting in Cordoba sign trade agreement with Cuba

Washington's most outspoken critics in Latin America held center stage at a Mercosur summit on Friday (July 21), giving a sharp leftward push to the meeting of South America's largest trade bloc. Cuban President Fidel Castro made a rare international appearance to celebrate the recent incorporation of Cuba's close ally Venezuela into Mercosur. The communist leader signed an expanded trade accord between Mercosur and Cuba, which has been under a U.S. economic embargo for more than four decades. Venezuela this month joined Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay as full members of Mercosur; Bolivia and Chile are associate members. Chile's leftist president Michelle Bachelet expressed her desire to work to together to improve the conditions of the citizen's of South American nations. "I want to show my satisfaction for this meeting that lets us renew our commitment to integration and political concentration to make the region a more just and humane place for everyone," Bachelet said in to the delegation in Cordoba. But the meeting of Mercosur members comes at a time when strife between members is threatening the block's unity. Argentine and Uruguay are locked in a bitter dispute over the construction of two pulp mills on river shared by the two nations. Security looked on earlier on Friday as a small group of Argentine protesters gathered outside the meeting to protest the construction of two paper mills in Uruguay along a river shared by the two countries. Chile has been protesting proposed gas price by Argentina after Kirchner agreed to pay more for the recently nationalized gas coming from Bolivia. Meanwhile, Brazil continues to butt heads with Morales over gas prices and smaller countries Uruguay and Paraguay say they want to pursue free-trade deals outside the bloc and accuse Argentina and Brazil of protectionism. Brazilian President Lula da Silva spoke out against the lack of unity and warned that countries should not let internal problems affect their dealings with other governments. "I want to say to you, fellow presidents, that in these unsettled times, the key word is patience. If we let internal problems determine the relationships between our nations, we will have a lot of problems. Right now I see in various nations and in those that criticize Mercosur - the most conservative sector that has worked a long time to put an end to Mercosur," the Brazilian president said. The three outspoken leftist leaders -- Castro, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bolivian President Evo Morales -- were to lead a rally of university students and political activists on Friday after the summit. Chavez was far more optimistic about the meeting, taking advantage of the platform to speak out against the United States. He made reference to last year's Summit of the America's in Mar del Plata, Argentina as the event that galvanized a revitalized union in Mercosur. President Bush and his Mexican counterpart Vicente Fox were received rather coldly by the rest of the Latin American presidents. Meanwhile, Chavez and Morales organized and anit-summit close by where Chavez gave a marathon speech announcing the death of ACLA. "ALCA was the end of Mercosur and that is why we will never forget the great battle in Mar del Plata. This reunion, revitalized and empowered, is only possible because of the great victory in Mar del Plata," Chavez said to applause in Cordoba. Castro's visit highlighted the difference in vision among South American leaders over Mercosur and its efforts to more closely link the region's economies. Chavez has called the group a counterbalance to U.S. free-trade deals. Morales said now that Castro and Chavez are part of Mercosur, he will have to join to trade bloc as an official member. "If my partner Fidel is already part of Mercosur, my people, the indigenous movements, will force me to join Mercosur," Morales said. Castro, who turns 80 soon, joked about the improbability of him reaching such an age. "I feel really happy to be turning 80. It's something I never expected and even less having a neighbor that is the most powerful force in the world these days trying to eliminate me all the time. I think this will be the only meeting in which they don't try to attack me a couple times. And later people ask me, 'You are going?' Well, everyone knows what I have to spend, the hoops I have to jump through, the things I have to hide. Sometimes I even have to give my friends bad information … I'm laughing no one thought I would make it, not even me," Castro said amidst laughter from other leaders. Some analysts believe an alliance between the bloc's four founders and Venezuela will be greatly beneficial, since the world's No.5 oil exporter has already offered cheap fuel to some neighbors and is spearheading a proposal to build a massive gas pipeline running the length of South America. The leaders also made a call for peace in the Middle East. The meeting in Cordoba was of particular personal importance to Castro. The central Argentine city is near the childhood home of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, the Argentine-born Marxist revolutionary who helped lead the 1959 revolution that brought Castro to power in Cuba.

ITN Source | July 22, 2006

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