Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday told the press he will soon depart for a meeting of the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) in Uruguay to close a deal to make Venezuela a full member of the group.

Chavez said the forthcoming integration into Mercosur -- founded in the 1991 by Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil -- is of historic importance to Venezuela.

The president said he will stay in Montevideo, capital of Uruguay, till Sunday to have enough time for talks with his Brazilian, Argentine and Uruguayan counterparts besides attending the two-day meeting starting from Thursday.

Venezuela, the world's fifth largest crude oil exporter, is expected to be admitted as a full member of the South American organization at the Montevideo meeting. It joined Mercosur in July 2004 as an associate member.

Uruguay currently holds the rotating presidency of Mercosur.

Source: Xinhua