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Maduro: New
MERCOSUR in the construction phase
• Regional body to promote a
complementary economic zone
CARACAS.—"The new Common Market of
the South (MERCOSUR) is in the construction phase
and we have sufficient learning on this subject to
re-found ourselves," affirmed Venezuelan President
Nicolás Maduro.
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Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro with
MERCOSUR foreign ministers.
(Foto: PRENSA PRESIDENCIAL) |
Closing the meeting of the ministers
of economy, finance and trade and foreign ministers
of MERCOSUR, Maduro explained that the regional body
has the challenge of constantly renewing itself,
given that the MERCOSUR of the 1990’s is very
different from that of today and very different from
the one which must be constructed.
"We believe in a new MERCOSUR, which
will be a powerful cohesive engine for a new economy
in South America, in Latin America. Only united can
we confront the challenge of not returning to
obscurity and economic servitude," Maduro stated.
The foreign ministers of the
regional mechanism agreed to promote dialogue with
other regional organizations in order to construct a
complementary economic zone on the continent,
condemned U.S. global espionage, and discussed
relations with the European Union.
After working sessions organized
within the MERCOSUR meeting of economic, finance,
trade and foreign ministers, Venezuelan Foreign
Minister Elías Jaua stated that the encounter
focused on central issues related to the redesigning
of MERCOSUR and an agenda of the decisions made for
discussion at the upcoming summit of the
organization in Caracas.
According to Jaua, they are to give
the green light to a process of rapprochement for
economic complementarity with other integrationist
bodies, such as the Bolivarian Alliance for the
Peoples of Our America (ALBA), the Petrocaribe
energy cooperation platform and the Community of
Caribbean States (CARICOM).
According to PL, Jaua stated that
this initiative is directed toward promoting
integral development, confronting poverty and social
exclusion and overcoming imbalances on the continent.
At the same time, the meeting
ratified the rejection of global espionage expressed
at the last MERCOSUR Summit in Montevideo, Uruguay.
Discussions at this meeting also
involved the foreign ministers of Argentina, Héctor
Timerman; Uruguay, Luis Almagro; Brazil, Luiz
Alberto Figueiredo; and Bolivia, David Choquehuanca,
who also toured the National Pantheon in Caracas,
where they honored the Liberator Simón Bolívar.
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