Bolivia Mercosur membership close to fruition

Bolivian Vice President David Choquehuanca Céspedes visited Brasília last week. Photo: Fabio Rodrigues Pozzebom/ABr

The Brazilian Senate’s Foreign Affairs Committee voted 18-0 on Thursday to approve the accession of Bolivia to Mercosur, the trade alliance formed by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

Last week, Senator Sergio Moro, an opposition member and ally of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro, postponed the vote, expressing concern over what he called reports of “political prisoners” in Bolivia, including former Bolivian President Jeanine Áñez, who was sentenced to ten years in prison for her role in a 2019 coup that removed then-President Evo Morales from power.

At today’s session, Mr. Moro again expressed his concern, drawing parallels to politics in Brazil. “It would be the equivalent, in Brazil, of criminalizing the impeachment of [former] President Dilma Rousseff in 2016, arresting and punishing former President Michel Temer, his ministers, and the lawmakers responsible, many of whom are still in office,” he said.

Mr. Moro then added that the “next step” could be readmitting Venezuela, a far-left regime that temporarily held a seat in the trade bloc from 2012 to 2016.

Senator Jaques Wagner, the Lula administration’s Senate whip, said it was not good for Brazil’s image to “judge another country’s democracy” and stressed that Brazil was the only Mercosur member that had not yet ratified Bolivia’s entry.

Senator Cid Gomes of the left-leaning Democratic Labor Party (PDT) proposed that committee members form a delegation to Bolivia to express their “concerns,” and said that a unanimous vote on Bolivia’s accession would increase the delegation’s credibility by giving a “vote of confidence” to Bolivia. Right-wing senators such as Carlos Portinho from Rio de Janeiro then said they would change their intended vote. “Let’s help in this dialogue between countries,” Mr. Portinho said.

The proposal will now go to the Senate floor. If approved, it will be submitted to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s desk, clearing the final hurdle for Bolivia to join Mercosur.