Latin American Studies Lecture Series

Venezuela has asked to be incorporated as a full member of MERCOSUR, the Southern Cone integration process. But, MERCOSUR has special clauses for those who desire to be part of the process. Is Venezuela in a condition to be incorporated into the MERCOSUR? The conditions are written as legal rules and include respect for democratic rights which are enumerated in the Asuncion Protocol. In addition, all four member states of MERCOSUR must agree to Venezuela's membership request. To date, two of these countries (i.e., Brazil and Paraguay) have not yet done so. I will provide an analysis of the legal conditions and the reasons why these two countries have not yet moved to include Venezuela as a full member of MERCOSUR.

Adriana Dreyzin is Professor of Integration Law at the National University of Córdoba in Argentina. She is the author of numerous academic books and papers and has been a Visiting Professor at Complutense University, Madrid; UNAM, Mexico D.F.; UFSC, Brasil; National University of Chile, Santiago; Max Planck Institute, Heidelberg; and UNIDROIT Italia. Ex Legal Consultant of the MERCOSUR Secretariat in Montevideo, she is a current member of the list of arbitrators of MERCOSUR and was a delegate at the UNCITRAL Working Group on Mediation & Arbitration, New York, 2009.

All lectures in the Latin American Studies Lecture Series are followed by q&a. You are invited to bring your own "brown bag" lunch. In keeping with the Bolivar House cafecito tradition, hot coffee is provided beginning at 11:45 am. Lecture/q&a runs from 12:15-1:05 pm.