Mercosur

Mercosur or Mercosul, officially the Common Market of the South, Latin American trade organization established in 1991 to increase economic cooperation among the countries of E South America. It is commonly known as Mercosur or Mercosul from the Spanish and Portuguese names, respectively, for the organization. Full members now include Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela; Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru are associate members. The headquarters are in Montevideo, Uruguay. Mercosur is gradually eliminating tariffs between member states and at the same time aiming for a low common external duty, and trade between its members has greatly expanded since 1991.