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Mercosur or Mercosul (Spanish: Mercado Común del Sur, Portuguese: Mercado Comum do Sul, English: Southern Common Market) is a trading zone among Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, founded in 1991. Its purpose is to promote free trade and movement of goods and peoples, skills and money, between these countries. Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela have associate member status.
Many South Americans see Mercosur as a useful bulwark against the encroachment of the United States in the region, either in the form of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) or in the form of bilateral treaties. But Mercosur was signficantly weakened by the collapse of the Argentine economy in 2002, and indeed some critics believe the refusal of the Bush administration to bail out Argentina was based on its desire to undermine Mercosur, which would be a threat to what some say is a divide-and-conquer strategy for maintaining dominance over the economies of Latin America.
In December 2004 it merged with the Andean Community trade bloc (CAN) to form the South American Community of Nations, patterned after the European Union.
See also: trade bloc
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