Uruguay’s Mercosur Chairmanship Ends, Transfer to Venezuela Pending

Uruguay has officially ended its chairmanship of the Mercosur Latin American regional economic bloc, local media report.

MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) – Uruguay’s Foreign Ministry sent a diplomatic note to Mercosur members on Friday confirming the end of its presidency term and presenting a final report of its chairmanship performance, El Espectador said.

A Saturday Mercosur meeting scheduled to take place in Uruguay’s capital Montevideo, where the bloc’s chairmanship was supposed to be passed to Venezuela, has been cancelled. The Paraguayan Foreign Ministry was informed of the decision in an official note sent by Uruguay earlier this week.

Founded in 1991, Mercosur is a sub-regional economic bloc that includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Mercosur presidency for this half of the year is supposed to be transferred to Venezuela. However, there have been concerns over growing discord in Venezuela amid a political standoff between Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro and the opposition-dominated parliament.

Both Paraguay and Brazil have been calling for the blocking of Venezuela's chairmanship due to what is being claimed to be a breakdown of democratic order in Venezuela. Argentina has not expressed any opposition to Venezuela assuming its presidency in July.

According the Paraguayan Foreign Ministry, Mercosur chairmanship will not be passed to Venezuela until all members of the bloc give a green light.