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International News Title: Venezuelan trade plans to backfire? Like the South American independence hero Simón Bolívar, his modern-day disciple Hugo Chávez dreams of unifying the region, to stand stronger against the imperialist threat. But if trade is anything to go by an excellent way to bring regions closer together the success of Chávezs Bolivarian revolution has so far been mixed. This Friday 22nd April, Venezuelas membership in the Andean Community of Nations (CAN), the regional trade bloc now comprising just Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, finally expires. It is being described as a death blow to the group, with trade between Venezuela and Colombia constituting about half its activity. Indeed, when Chávez announced Venezuelas withdrawal from the CAN exactly five years ago, in vigorous protest at attempts by Colombia and Peru to win free trade agreements with the empire (a.k.a. the US), he declared: Today I can say that [the CAN] is dead, they killed it. It doesnt exist
its only good for the elites, multinational companies, but its no good for the indians, the blacks, the whites, or the poor. But what will take its place? Chávezs original idea was to instead join Mercosur, the trade bloc comprising Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. But that plan has backfired somewhat, at least so far, with Paraguays congress still blocking Venezuelas entry (congresses in the other three countries have approved Venezuelas entry). According to Wikileaks, one Paraguayan senator said: Not even if Chávez dresses up as Father Christmas will he get into Mercosur. Chávez has also been trying to promote an alternative trade group, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of our America (ALBA), in which goods can be paid for in kind. Apart from Venezuela, its principal members Cuba, Boliva, Ecuador and Nicaragua are relatively small economies; its debatable how successful this initiative has been. Meanwhile Venezuela is extending current preferential tariffs with Colombia and Peru until new bilateral agreements are reached. But its unclear what will happen. Trade with Colombia in particular has been problematic, plummeting drastically after Chávezs very public falling out with former president Álvaro Uribe. Things seem to be improving under the new president, but slowly, and Colombian businesses remain deeply suspicious of doing business with Venezuela, which still owes them hundreds of millions of dollars. For the time being, perhaps those most affected by Chávezs attempts to shake up regional trade are Venezuelan consumers. For their sake, lets hope Chávezs efforts to unify the region arent as unsuccessful as Bolívars, who died a disillusioned man, admitting that he had ploughed the sea.
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