Argentina Wants Bolivia to Become Full Member of Mercosur, Awaits Signal from Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Bolivia becoming a full member of Mercosur is one of the main objectives that Argentina proposed after assuming the Pro Tempore presidency of the regional bloc on December 16th.

President Alberto Fernández has many geopolitical coincidences with the new Bolivian president, Luis Arce, and should join forces so that the Brazilian Senate unlocks the possible of adherence to the bloc.

“Mercosur is the most important regional political project for our country. It is a state policy,” Fernández expressed in his speech, when he received the presidency that he will hold for the next six months. In addition, that day he shared by teleconference with other presidents of the bloc and with others who were specially invited to the event called “Dream of a different Mercosur, turned into a flagship of sustainable development, technological innovation and social inclusion.”

“We do not need less Mercosur, we need more and better Mercosur,” added Fernández, and that “implies building an eco-Mercosur” to design a “low-carbon and sustainable regional model.”

The inclusion as a full member of Bolivia was stalled in 2015. On July 17th, Bolivia signed the Accession Protocol to join Mercosur, But the ratification by the Brazilian legislative branch has not occurred. The intention of the then Bolivian president, Evo Morales, was to join a bloc with which it shares 70% of its 770,000 kilometers from its borders. Furthermore, Argentina and Brazil are two of its main trading partners, especially because they import gas.

During the Argentine presidency of Mauricio Macri, diplomatic relations with Bolivia cooled. With the ouster of Morales and the assumption of Jeanine Añez in November last year, when the government of Alberto Fernández took office, the link was directly broken. Argentina did not appoint an ambassador in La Paz.

On November 8, 2020, however, Fernández was one of the presidents who was in the Quemado Palace in the Bolivian capital at the inauguration of Arce. On that occasion, both leaders met in private and in addition to the possible entry into Mercosur, they spoke about the possibility of returning to CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States), of gas supply and of lithium industrialization.

Argentina had granted political asylum to the deposed Bolivian president Evo Morales, who in November 2019 was forced to resign due to allegations of fraud in the election that would allow him his fourth term. After passing through Mexico, the coca grower leader arrived in Buenos Aires where he stayed until he was able to return to his land. On that return, Fernández accompanied him to the border crossing that connects La Quiaca with Villazón in a clear gesture of support for the president of the MAS (Movement to Socialism) political party of Bolivia.

Bolivia is awaiting the endorsement of Brazil to enter Mercosur (EFE)

In a recent document released by the Argentine Foreign Ministry, it is stated that “active participation in decision-making bodies and technical forums that contribute to its accession process to MERCOSUR”, of Bolivia, will be encouraged, among some of its main objectives for the coming months. Fernández maintains a friendship with Arce, former Minister of Economy of Evo Morales. The intention now is to convince Brazil of the incorporation of another full member to the bloc.

On October 18, when Arce’s victory was consummated at the polls in Bolivia, the Argentine parliamentarians of Parlasur (the Mercosur parliament) issued a statement in which they asked the Brazilian legislature to ratify the incorporation of Bolivia as a full member of the regional organization. It was signed by the current president of Parlasur, Oscar Laborde and other legislators representing Argentina. There it was stated that “the assumption of the new president Luis Arce brings the Plurinational State of Bolivia closer to the Great Homeland and that is why we sincerely believe that it is time for Bolivia to definitively join Mercosur.”

There has still been no response from Brazil.