Chávez: "We are interested in changing the economic model"

Venezuela's full membership with the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) "puts us in the appropriate historical outlook. The south is our aim. We are where we should have been always," Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez exclaimed.

"I am certain that from today (Tuesday) we enter a new period of accelerated history we are working on: acceleration and changes. Future events will be superior to those of the last decade," he reasoned within the framework of the extraordinary summit of the regional trade bloc, held at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil.

"We are interested in transforming the national economic model, the so-called rent-seeking model, the oil factory," he commented after expressing his gratitude to his counterparts of Brazil, Dilma Roussef; Argentina, Cristina de Kirchner; and Uruguay, Pepe Mujica.

With reporting by Mariela León.