Due Process is in the Eye of the Beholder
I’m a couple of weeks late on this one, but I think The Economist’s take on Venezuela’s quickie accession to Mercosur was really enlightening.
As the chart on the right shows, on straightforward commercial interest grounds, excluding Paraguay in favor of Venezuela in the block is little short of perverse.
But the bit that really tickled me was one of those obvious things that only quite hit you when someone points it out explicitly.
[Paraguay’s suspension from Mercosur] was legally questionable. Mercosur’s rules require decisions to be unanimous, with all members given a fair hearing. The envoy of Paraguay’s new government was turned away in Mendoza.
Rather fresh, when you consider the reason Paraguay was excluded from the bloc was supposedly…that Lugo wasn’t given a proper chance to defend his position!
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