Former Uruguayan Foreign Minister Didier Opertti Badan took the post of secretary general of the Latin American Integration Association (LAIA) Friday.

An inauguration ceremony was held in Montevideo, the seat of LAIA, during an extraordinary session of the Committee of Representatives.

Opertti was elected unanimously by the LAIA council of foreign ministers last October to replace Juan Francisco Rojas Penso of Venezuela who had been in office since 1999. He will begin to serve a three-year term since next Monday.

The LAIA replaced the Latin American Free Trade Association in 1980 with the aim of forming a regional common market. It now groups 12 members -- Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Source: Xinhua