Mercosur and the democratic commitment

Abstract

The Ushuaia Protocol on Democratic Commitment in MERCOSUR, signed in 1998, is an important legal / political instrument aimed at ensuring democratic rule among its signatories, namely Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela, Bolivia and Chile. Despite the commitment made, using a technique imposed by the use of the so-called “democratic clauses”, the text of the Ushuaia Protocol was not allowed to define and characterize what should be understood by democracy. And thus, if it is not possible to identify what its minimum assumptions or elements, it becomes possible to impose a severe penalty, as in the case of suspension of the State Party from integrating the economic bloc, without counting on a safe reference to do so. Because of this, we seek to point out this insufficiency of the democratic clause, demonstrating that the norm in question is undetermined and open, as it allows considerable discretion to the States Parties in its application, causing serious legal uncertainty among the participants. Thus, given the indeterminacy of the so-called “democratic clauses” aimed at maintaining the democratic political system in the MERCOSUR States Parties, the possibility of considerable discretion in the identification of this situation opens up, causing the bloc’s political and legal instability. . In addition, all this freedom for exegesis of the term democracy, allows itself a mere political judgment, influenced by the momentary clamor that goes through the States Parties, allowing the strategic use of the application of the democratic clause based on interests that go beyond the main objective. of the block. In this scenario, the antecedents of the process of economic integration in Latin America will be approached until the emergence of MERCOSUR, seeking to identify possible current obstacles to the bloc’s consolidation, from the observance of historical, political, economic and cultural facts related to the participating countries. It will also be translated the importance of democracy regarding the origin and formation of MERCOSUR, listing the objectives, as well as the requirements for the admission and permanence of states in the bloc. It also compares the democratic commitment in MERCOSUR and in the European Union.