What is the future of Mercosur?

President Hugo Chavez marked Venezuela's entry into the South American trade bloc Mercosur with a six-nation summit Tuesday, an alliance that he says should be a common front against U.S. free trade deals.

"It's the road to liberation," Chavez said in a televised address from the presidential palace. "Today more than ever before it's possible. Let's make it reality."

Not all agreed with Chavez that the outlook for Mercosur was so rosy. Paraguayan President Nicanor Duarte aired concerns about alleged protectionist practices by Brazil and Argentina that have prompted Paraguay and Uruguay to question the benefits of Mercosur membership.

Duarte said the bloc's system of common tariffs "does not always agree with commercial practices that still pose many obstacles, especially for less developed countries like Paraguay, which continues to have problems with the flow and circulation of its goods."

Paraguay has complained that its products face long delays in entering Mercosur's two biggest markets and has also protested rules that prohibit it from signing bilateral trade deals with countries outside the bloc.

"In South America we have to develop greater commercial liberalization," Duarte said.

Oil-producing Venezuela's entry into Mercosur is expected to boost the economic clout of the trading bloc, bringing Mercosur's combined gross domestic product to $1 trillion a year � more than three-quarters of South America's total economic activity.

Under the agreement, Venezuela will be required to adopt a common external tariff system within four years. The level of those tariffs will vary depending on the product but will average about 12 percent, said Eduardo Sigal, Argentina's undersecretary for economic integration.

Venezuela and the continent's two largest economies � Brazil and Argentina � will establish free trade zones by 2012. Paraguay and Uruguay will immediately benefit from preferential tariffs for their principal exports to Venezuela before gradually establishing free trade zones by 2013.

Venezuelan critics, largely allied with the political opposition, said the government failed to sufficiently consult the private sector about details including the need for measures to protect local producers, including farmers and cattle ranchers, from cheaper imports.

Chavez also has proposed a massive natural gas pipeline that would carry natural gas from Venezuela's offshore reserves to Brazil, Argentina and other countries. He has suggested Bolivia � which has the continent's second-largest gas reserves after Venezuela � also could be connected to send its gas to other countries.

The Venezuelan government said in a statement Tuesday that the visiting leaders would also sign an agreement for Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay to participate in the proposed 5,600-mile pipeline.

The plan has met with skepticism, however, from energy experts who say it faces enormous technological, environmental and economic challenges. Though cost estimates for building the pipeline remain rough, the Brazilian oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA has said the price tag could run to more than $25 billion.'

That's why I have so much high hopes for Evo Morales. If his "experiment" succeeds in Bolivia, he could bring hopes to the plight of the indigenous people in other Latin American countries.