Latin American Jurisdictions: MERCOSUR

MERCOSUR

Argentina (Full)

Bolivia (Associate)

Brazil (F)

Chile (A)

Colombia (A)

Ecuador (A)

Mexico (Observer)

Paraguay (F)

Peru (A)

Uruguay (F)

Venezuela (A; F pending)

MERCOSUR, an acronym for the Mercado Común del Sur (Southern Common Market), was established as a regional trade agreement in 1991 with four founding nation states: Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. In December 2004, the MERCOSUR Parliament was founded. In this year, MERCOSUR signed a cooperation agreement with the Andean Community (CAN), and published a joint letter of intent for the future political economic integration of all of South America. 

There are five associate members of this juridical and economic bloc: Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru. Venezuela signed a membership agreement in 2006, but as of summer 2010 its status as a member has yet to be ratified by the Paraguayan parliament. Mexico is currently observing the developments of MERCOSUR and may consider joining in the future. There should be 18 representatives from each country.