Presidents and delegations of the Mercosur trade block (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela) and associated countries Bolivia, Chile and Peru attend the 29th summit of the Mercosur in Montevideo, Uruguay, December 9, 2005. (Xinhua/AP)

    MONTEVIDEO, Dec. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- A one-day summit of the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) accepted here on Friday Venezuela as a full member of the South America's leading trade bloc and agreed to set up a regional parliament.

    Venezuela, an associate member of the bloc since 2004, was given full membership at the 29th summit of Mercosur, which was founded in 1991 by Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil.

    "I give a hearty welcome to a friend," Brazilian President LuizInacio Lula Da Silva said at the summit held in Uruguay's capital Montevideo.

    "Mercosur continues to be an engine for economic integration, ever more important for our countries," he said.

    According to the bloc's procedures, it would take at least months for Venezuela to be fully incorporated into Mercosur and the country will participate in meetings but without voting privileges during this period.

    Venezuela, South America's third largest economy and the world's fifth biggest oil exporter, has been a sharp critic of the United Sates and has led the opposition against the US-backed Free Trade Area of the Americas.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, right, waves to photographers along with the President of Brazil Inacio Lula da Silva, left, and President of Argentina Nestor Kirchner, as they head to attend a tri-lateral meeting after the opening session of the South American trade bloc Mercosur one-day summit, at the Mercosur headquarters in Montevideo, Uruguay, Friday, Dec. 9, 2005 . (Xinhua/AP)

    Analysts here said the country's entry into Mercosur could be of more political significance than economic influence.

    "More than a common market, Mercosur is the main instrument for promoting the international interests of the members," said Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who referred to the bloc as "the shield for our economic and political interests."

    Leading the region's economic growth rate of 9.1 percent in the first nine months of 2005, and with huge oil reserves, Venezuela is to bring economic heft for Mercosur. With Venezuela, the bloc will have a population of 252 million, or some 70 percent of South America's total.

    Meanwhile, the leaders also agreed at the summit to restart the long-delayed plan to set up a Mercosur parliament, signaling moves toward a regional political body of the formerly tariff union.

    A senior diplomat from Uruguay, which currently holds the bloc's rotating presidency, told Xinhua that the summit has been the most successful one in years.

    "It rekindled our hope of strengthening regional cooperation," said the diplomat who declined to be identified. Enditem