Mercosur in Venezuela’s integration policy

Abstract

In this article, we argue that the Hugo Chávez’s strategy to apply for full membership into Mercosul must be contextualized in the framework of political changes in Venezuela and of the extent to which these changes have influenced the foreign policy decision making process in this country. Consequently, any decision-making on regional integration adopted in Venezuela is subordinated to the achievement of three foreign policy objectives: the fight against a unipolar order, which was recently transformed into an anti-imperialism campaign; the rejection of neo-liberalism and the capitalist system, and the promotion of Bolivarian integration. The difficulties in making these foreign policy objectives with the strategic, political and institutional reality in Mercosul compatible, and the economic costs of implementing the trade liberalization approved in the Protocol of Caracas explain why it is so hard for Venezuela to be a Mercosul full member.