This blog was created by Telma Nzams, Judit Vico and Isabella Palmieri from 101 seminar. This blog and the following post are related to the Southern Common Market, also known as MERCOSUR. It is going to explain its origins and historical background, as well as the original and current characteristics of it; mainly the geographical, economic and political features. It is also going to compare the differences and similarities between this regional organisation and others from the same continent. Besides, the several concepts of a region that may be applied when people talk about this region and its differences. Acronyms MERCOSUR: Mercado Común del Sur ( Southern Common Market) LAFTA: The Latin American Association UNASUR: The South American Union of Nations LACM: Latin America Common Market GRAN: Grupo Andino (Andean Group) CAFTA: Central American Free Trade CMC: Common Market Council CMG: Common Market Group GDP: Gross Domestic P
Mercosur was created in 1991 and is nowadays a consolidated regional organization. It has its origins in a previous organization: Asociación Latinoamericana de Libre Comercio or ALALC, in which eleven countries of South America were members. Its main goal was to create an area where the members (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela) could trade freely in an approximated period of twelve years. However, the economic instability in the region and the lack of institutions for the purpose of integration stalled the process (Machinandiarena, 2006). Due to this failure, members of ALALC met and negotiated the Montevideo treaty in 1980, which led to a second organization: Asociación Latinoamericana de Integración or ALADI. Its main goal was to integrate the markets of the different members to establish a common one. Nevertheless, the difference with the later tries in making this were that there were no strict deadlines