Venezuel A Powerful Member State - 1378 Words

Nevertheless, Venezuela is â€Å"a very powerful member state because of its size, its highly industrialized society, and a GPD comparable to that of Argentina and Brazil.† It also has the â€Å"second largest export sector of all Latin American countries and the largest oil and gas reserves in Latin America.† These factors equip Venezuela with sufficient power to affect the Mercosur agenda and rival the influence of Argentina and Brazil. The Argentinian government, led by President Cristina Kirchner, has sympathized with Chavez’s vision for Mercosur. However, the Brazilian government has taken a different position and wishes to continue Mercosur’s original agenda of free trade and open markets, but â€Å"it needs to remain a member to maintain†¦show more content†¦These two countries governments are left leaning, sympathetic to Venezuela’s politics of resistance, and wish to promote a regional integration that involves regional res istance to American hegemony. They share with Venezuela a ‘Bolivarian’ vision of Latin American unity and power. Thus, in the near future, the majority of Mercosur members will likely share and promote an anti neo-liberal agenda rather than a free-trade one. b. Challenges to Accomplishing Venezuela’s New Vision for Mercosur The prospect of achieving Mercosur’s progressive new vision is fraught with challenges as much as it is inspired by hope. United States interests will continue to resist losing their economic and political grip in the region. This will not be the only obstacle facing the success of this new vision. The sheer magnitude of the project will require a serious commitment, and Latin America’s diversity of political beliefs and cultures could prove to be more marked than its homogeneity. For example, there are two Latin Americas at the moment. The first is a bloc of countries include Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Ecuador. They mistrust globalization, resists neo-liberalism, and seek to â€Å"give the state a large role in the economy.† The second bloc, including Mexico, Peru, Chile, and Colombia, embraces free trade and free markets and has a closer connection with Washington. Both sets of countries share similar geography, culture and