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Venezuelan president orders exit
from G3 trade bloc
Venezuela's President Hugo
Chavez said on Sunday that his
country has decided to quit the
trade bloc with Colombia and
Mexico to formally become a
member of the Common Market of
the South (Mercosur).
The president said on his weekly
TV and radio program that he had
ordered the government to begin
the work of quitting the G3
trade bloc to "safeguard the
national interests."
Chavez said his country withdrew
on April 22 from the Community
of Andean Nations (CAN) because
the trade bloc's members Peru
and Colombia signed a free trade
deal with the United States, a
move that has impacted the
exports of Venezuela.
The similar reason pushed
Venezuela to pull out of the G3
trade group, he added.
Venezuela was granted membership
by the Mercosur in December
2005, which also groups
Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and
Uruguay.
However, the Mercosur did not
give Venezuela tariff preference
for exports enjoyed by other
Mercosur members immediately
because Venezuela was enjoying
tariff preference of CAN at that
time as its member.
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