Marcos Chagas
Special Report

Caracas - Speaking at the ceremony celebrating the official entry of Venezuela in Mercosur, president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva did not limit his remarks to a prepared speech. Improvising, he got rounds of applause with a strong defense of South American integration, as well as when he admitted that there will be bumps on the road to integration, such as the recent gas crisis with Bolivia.

Lula pointed out that united, Brazil and its neighbors were stronger in multilateral organization negotiations, such as the UN and the the World Trade Organization.

Referring Venezuela's membership in Mercosur, Lula said it guaranteed fair trade and allowed the business community to do business. He called it a concrete example of how a dream that millions of Latin Americans have dreamed can become reality. Lula concluded by saying that "The day when a ceremony in La Paz marking the entrance of Bolivia into Mercosur takes place is not far in the future." At the moment, Bolivia is an associate member of Mercosur.

Translation: Allen Bennett