Brazil’s plans to strengthen and expand the Mercosur trading bloc are running into growing divisions among its members and a spiraling economic crisis in Argentina.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva assumed the rotating presidency of the South American customs union Tuesday, promising to reduce dissent in the group founded by Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. He said he would work to include Bolivia in the bloc and for the conclusion of a long-awaited free trade deal with the European Union.
“We’re going to have to make a huge effort to try to reduce complaints among us,” Lula said during a Mercosur summit in the Argentine city of Puerto Iguazu. “If it lasts a long time, a complaint becomes bitter, unpleasant. I will try to resolve the main disagreements in Mercosur, as together we are stronger and we have more negotiating power.”
