On Tuesday (28/11), the Federal Senate approved the accession protocol for Bolivia’s entry into Mercosur. The vote was symbolic — only senators Eduardo Girão (Novo-CE) and Cleitinho (PL-MG) spoke against it. Now, with Congress’s acceptance, the proposal goes to the President of the Republic for ratification.
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Long Process
The discussion about the possibility of Bolivia joining Mercosur began during the first Lula government, in 2006. In January of the following year, the bloc accepted the neighboring country’s request, during a summit held in Rio de Janeiro. Then, a working group was created to define how the integration would take place. The final agreement still took nine years to be signed, only in July 2015, during the Dilma government. During Bolsonaro’s mandate, the process did not move, because there was no political interest, since Bolivia’s leadership was opposed to the then Brazilian ruler.
Analysis:
For experts, the Bolivia’s participation in the Mercosur is not economic but political, a way to strength the bloc, particularly now that it faces the threat of two important members leaving, Argentina and Uruguay. The first has a new president that was elected claiming that the country would leave Mercosur. The second has been negotiating commercial agreements with China while giving indications that the organization would no longer interest it.
In the economic aspect, analysts claim that Bolivia, being much smaller than its counterparts, does not make a great difference. It is a very small economy, with almost a single source of income, oil, and gas, and on top of that it is in a delicate situation economically. Furthermore, Bolivia has low import tariffs, lower than the Common External Tariff applied by Mercosur. Thus, the group’s tariff could harm it, instead of being an advantage.
Source: G1.
