Mercosur: History

1979 Signature of the Tripartite agreement between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.

1984 First informal talks about integration between Argentina and Brazil.

1985 Presidents Alfonsin (Argentina) and Sarney (Brazil) commit their respective countries to integration. A joint Declaration on Nuclear Cooperation is also issued.

1986 Presidents Alfonsin and Sarney sign the Programma de Integracion y Cooperation Economica (PICE) establishing economic integration between Argentina and Brazil. The original program comprised 12 sectoral protocols, increased to 24 in subsequent summits.

1988 Signature of the Treaty of Integration, Cooperation and Development between Argentina and Brazil. The treaty establishes a common economic space and introduces the concept of common market as an aspiration for the future.

1990 Signature of the Buenos Aires Act that provides for the establishment of a bilateral common market by December 1994. A diplomatic campaign to attract new members to the future common market starts. Negotiations proceed now on to two parallel tracks: bilateral and multilateral.

1991 The Treat of Asunción, establishing a common market between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, is signed.

1994 Protocol of Ouro Preto, amending the Treaty of Asunción from a Free Trade Area to a Customs Union.

1996 Bolivia joins Mercosur as an associated member.

August 25, 2003 Brazil and Peru’s presidents sign a free-trade agreement between Peru and Mercosur. Peru planned to join as an associate member.

December 8,2004 Mercosur signs a cooperation agreement with the Andean Community of Nations. As a result, Colombia and Ecuador are brought in the fold as Mercosur associate members, joining their fellow Andean Community members, Bolivia and Peru.

July 21, 2006 Venezuela is accepted as a member of Mercosur, but waiting on recognition of full membership from Paraguayan parliament.

May 7,2007 The Mercosur Parliament is inaugurated following an agreement in 2004 ordering its creation. It is based in Montevideo, Uruguay.

June 1,2012 Paraguay is suspended from Mercosur in response to the impeachment of a senator for "dereliction of presidential duties". Mercosur interpreted this as a congressional coup and sactioned Paraguay until fresh elections were held.

July 31,2012 Venezuela is officially welcomed into the Mercosur trade bloc as Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff hosted Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez and Uruguay's Jose Mujica along with Chavez for the one-day Mercosur meeting in Brasilia.

August 1,2013 The president's of the Mercosur countries lifts Paraguay's suspension after the inauguration of Paraguay's new president in August.