Chavez: joining trade bloc a boon for Venezuela

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Joining the South American trade bloc Mercosur will be a boon for Venezuela and should help the country's businesses boost international sales, President Hugo Chavez said Monday as he traveled to Brazil for a meeting where Venezuela will formally become a member.

Chavez urged Venezuelan business leaders, some of whom are concerned about reducing tariffs, to support the initiative as he left Caracas for the meeting in Brasilia.

He said joining Mercosur will allow Venezuela "to have a much wider market to climb the scale" in its exports and also diversify its largely oil-driven economy. At the same time, Chavez said the bloc's other members, including Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, will also have expanded access to Venezuela's vast oil reserves.

Some business leaders and farmers say they're worried that the four-year period during which Venezuela should eliminate tariffs on products from Mercosur members will be too short, and that cheaper imports from countries such as Brazil and Argentina could hurt Venezuelan businesses.