BRAZILIAN AMBASSADOR ON VENEZUELA'S MERCOSUR

C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 001816 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/12/2017 TAGS: ETRD PGOV VE SUBJECT: BRAZILIAN AMBASSADOR ON VENEZUELA'S MERCOSUR ACCESSION Classified By: ECONOMIC COUNSELOR ANDREW N. BOWEN FOR REASON 1.4 (D) ¶1. (C) Brazilian Ambassador Joan Carlos Souza-Gomes told the Ambassador during a September 11 courtesy call that BRAZIL continues to push for Venezuela's Mercosur accession. Ambassador Souza-Gomes said BRAZIL believes Chavez is easier to contain within Mercosur than outside of it, and that Brazil is strong enough to prevent Chavez from fundamentally altering Mercosur. ¶2. (C) Souza-Gomes told the Ambassador it was hard to predict whether the Brazilian Senate would approve Venezuela's accession, but explained that the atmosphere has been better lately. He also believed that there is more resistance to Venezuela's accession in Paraguay's Congress than in Brazil's. ¶3. (C) Souza-Gomes said commerce between Venezuela and BRAZIL continues to boom, and it will likely soon eclipse Venezuelan trade with Colombia, making BRAZIL Venezuela's second largest trading partner after the United States. He also mentioned that BRAZIL and Venezuela would likely sign additional cooperation agreements in the near future. DUDDY