Venezuela to Join South America's Mercosur Group

[struggle4progress]

Oct. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuela, the world's firth-largest exporter of oil, will join the Mercosur trade group of South American nations to help improve energy cooperation in the region, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez said.

The decision expands the 14-year-old trade alliance to five countries, including Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

Venezuela, with South America's largest oil and natural gas reserves, has sought to deepen energy ties with other nations in the region. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, 51, is seeking to establish new markets on the continent to help reduce his dependence on the U.S., which imports about two-thirds of Venezuela's daily exports of about 2.1 million barrels a day.

``This will give a bigger dimension to Mercosur,'' Chavez said at a televised press conference in Salamanca, Spain, where he attended a summit of Latin American presidents and the leaders of Spain and Portugal. <snip>

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