Bolivia Invited to Become Full Member of Mercosur

In the latest shakeup to Mercosur’s membership, Bolivia has been formally invited to join the South American customs union as a full member. The bid was extended to Bolivian officials by Mercosur High Commissioner Ivan Ramalho early last week.

In doing so, Ramalho stressed the importance of the move, both to Bolivia and the current members of Mercosur, specifically citing the advantages of the nation’s prime geographic location in the middle of South America.

According to recent statements made by Bolivian President Evo Morales, the nation indeed plans to accept Mercosur’s invitation. Ecuador has also been invited to begin the process of becoming a full member, Morales said, without elaborating on whether it too intends to accept the invitation; both countries are currently associate members of the bloc.

The process for incorporating Bolivia as a full member into the bloc is scheduled to begin on 6 December at the upcoming Mercosur summit in Brazil.

Current full members of Mercosur include Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela, though Paraguay is currently suspended from the bloc.

Invitation incites fresh protests from Paraguay

The invitation extended to Bolivia has been met with disapproval from Paraguay, which is already at odds with its fellow Mercosur members following Asunción’s suspension from the bloc earlier this year. The suspension, resulting from the impeachment of former President Fernando Lugo, gave way to the union’s subsequent acceptance of Venezuela as a full member, a move that further upset Paraguay, whose senate had been blocking ratification for Caracas.

According to the treaty, new members cannot be inducted without unanimous approval by all current full members of the group. Paraguay’s suspension rendered the nation unable to vote both on the acceptance of Venezuela and the invitation to Bolivia.