Mercosur kicks off extraordinary summit

The extraordinary summit of the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) where Venezuela's full membership would be enforced, started on Tuesday in Brasilia with the participation of the presidents of four Member States of the South American trade bloc.

The summit was attended by the President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff, the host of the event, and her counterparts of Argentina, Cristina Fernández; Uruguay, José Mujica, and Venezuela, Hugo Chávez. Paraguay, one of the founding partners, will not take part because of the bar, Efe reported.

Before the opening session, the four presidents posed for the family photo. A press conference was scheduled at the end, in addition to a luncheon at the Itamaraty Palace, the venue of the Brazilian Foreign Office.

Paraguay was barred from the trade bloc last June 22, following the dismissal by the Congress of then Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo. He was replaced by his Vice-President, Federico Franco.