Argentina Can Accept Mercosur Presidency, Talks on Thursday – Paraguay FM

The transfer of the chairmanship of the Mercosur Latin American regional economic bloc will be discussed at the upcoming meeting in Uruguay’s capital, Montevideo, on Thursday, Paraguayan Foreign Minister Eladio Loizaga announced.

MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) – Uruguay officially ended its chairmanship of the Mercosur bloc last month.

"Thus, the four founding Mercosur countries will seek on Thursday in Montevideo to end the crisis that erupted in the bloc after Venezuela announced that it was assuming the presidency," Loizaga said on Wednesday, as quoted by the El Pais newspaper, adding that there is a possibility that the chairmanship will be passed to Argentina.

According to Paraguay’s foreign minister, the protocol of Venezuela’s accession to Mercosur could be reviewed in order to help resolve the situation.

Mercosur presidency for this half of the year was 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 actively calling for the blocking of Venezuela's chairmanship due to what is being claimed to be a breakdown of democratic order in Venezuela.

According the Paraguayan Foreign Ministry, Mercosur chairmanship transfer will remain an unresolved issue, despite Venezuela’s announcements of it having taken on presidency.

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