The Brazilian government thinks that the outcome of the referendum held last Sunday in Venezuela, where the No vote prevailed over a draft constitutional reform prompted by President Hugo Chávez, will help Venezuela join Mercosur as a full member, Efe reported.
 
During an interview published on Friday by daily newspaper Clarín of Buenos Aires, the advisor on International Affairs to the Brazilian President, Marco Aurelio García, said that "for the purposes of the inclusion" into the bloc composed of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, the "Sunday's result will paradoxically help."

"I think that inside Brazil and elsewhere, they will realize that the alibi of the anti-democratic country does not exist anymore. One can like or not Chávez, but that argument about being a dictator does not work," added García.

In order to make effective Venezuela's entry into Mercosur, the Adhesion Protocol should be ratified by the parliaments of the four founding members.