MERCOSUR, or the Southern Common Market (Mercado Común del Sur in Spanish) is a trade bloc founded in 1991 through the Treaty of Asunción by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Guyana and Suriname are associate members of Mercosur. The association’s purpose is to sustain a regional market with free trade and free movement of goods, workforce, and capital, and to preserve a customs union.
According to the founding letter, non-democratic countries are not allowed in the block.
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