(Updates with confirmation from Venezuelan consul in Sao Paulo.)
SAO PAULO -(Dow Jones)- In what could stymie U.S. efforts to craft a free- trade zone for the Western Hemisphere, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will request that his oil-rich country become part of the Mercosur trade bloc when presidents from the group meet Tuesday in Paraguay, a Venezuelan diplomat in Sao Paulo said Monday.
"The president (Chavez) has always said that stronger integration in South America is a precondition" for the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas, said Venezeulan Consul Freddy Balzan. "We want to be members of Mercosur," he said. " FTAA doesn't interest us at the moment. It's too protectionist."
Chavez was invited to the meetings by outgoing Paraguayan President Luiz Gonzalez Macchi. Officials from Brazil's foreign ministry declined to say if they will support Chavez's bid. Argentine foreign ministry officials weren't immediately available for comment. Brazil and Argentina lead Mercosur, which also includes Paraguay and Uruguay and counts Chile and Bolivia as associates.
The leftist Chavez - a former military officer who has survived a coup attempt and general strikes calling for his ouster, and frustrated the U.S. in recent months - has said the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas would be a bad deal.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his Argentine counterpart, Nestor Kirchner, lean to the political left but are regarded as more pragmatic and interested in negotiating trade deals than the maverick Chavez.
Lula and Kirchner are seeking to develop a unified strategy among the existing Mercosur countries for trade negotiations with the U.S. over the proposed 34- nation FTAA, which is slated to take effect in 2005 but likely to run into delays.
-By Terry Wade, Dow Jones Newswires; 5511-3145-1479; terry.wade@dowjones.com
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