07/05/2024 – 20:03
Bolivia formally joined Mercosur this Friday, the 5th, after the country’s president, Luis Arce, enacted a law approved by Congress providing for the measure, the Bolivian president said. on your X network account.
“After almost seven months, today (Friday, 5) we finally received the sanctioned law, and on this same day we promulgated it immediately. The incorporation of Bolivia as a member country of Mercosur has a strategic character because it means being part of an important space for regional integration, commercial exchange, productive strengthening and makes us an articulating axis in the region”, wrote Arce.
The law was passed on June 14 by Bolivia’s Chamber of Deputies and approved by the Senate on Wednesday. Once enacted, it will come into effect within 30 days.
“It is a very historic moment for Bolivia, for the productive sectors and for Bolivians who live and are part of Mercosur,” emphasized Bolivian Foreign Minister Celinda Sosa in a press conference this Friday.
“It has been a dream come true for many years,” she said. “That we can participate in this bloc, (…) the fifth most important economic bloc in the world,” the minister stressed.
Bolivia became a full member of the bloc formed by Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay in December last year, during the Rio de Janeiro Summit, after an eight-year wait, but it still needs to adapt to the regulatory environment. The country has had a free trade agreement with Mercosur since 1997, which has given Bolivia an accumulated trade deficit of 42%.
The accession protocol establishes additional obligations, including a ban on bilateral negotiations with other countries, said Gary Rodriguez, manager of the International Trade Institute (IBCE). “The question is whether we are prepared to apply Mercosur’s 4,500 rules,” he said.
On Sunday, Luis Arce will participate in the Mercosur summit in Paraguay, which should finalize Bolivia’s entry as a member of the bloc, created in 1991. Bolivia’s accession had already been ratified by the other countries.
The Bolivian president’s visit will be his first meeting with the leaders of neighboring countries since last week’s failed military coup. Mercosur condemned the episode and expressed its support for Arce, with the exception of Argentine President Javier Milei, whose government denounced the coup as fake, which provoked a note of protest from the Bolivian government and the withdrawal of its ambassador in Buenos Aires.
On Monday, Arce will receive President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the city of Santa Cruz. (WITH INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES)
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