Yara Aquino
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the minister of Foreign Relations, Celso Amorim will participate in a special session of the Mercosur on Tuesday (4), in Caracas, to formalize Venezuela's accession to the trade bloc.

The presidents of the other Mercosur member countries - Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay - will also be present, together with Evo Morales, president of Bolivia, which is an associate member of the bloc. Morales stated that he intends to meet with Lula to discuss the sales price of Bolivian natural gas, which has been a bone of contention since Bolivia nationalized its reserves. The Brazilian foreign ministry informs, however, that the Brazilian president's agenda has yet to be decided.

The Venezuelan protocol of adhesion was signed in June by the member countries' foreign ministers. It will now be ratified by the presidents. The document defines the obligations, the stages of the integration process, and the deadlines for applying the bloc's common external tariff (CET) and liberalizing trade with the other members. Venezuela is expected to adopt the rules gradually over a four-year period.

Translation: David Silberstein