Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday that his country has decided to quit the trade bloc with Colombia and Mexico to formally become a member of the Common Market of the South (Mercosur).

The president said on his weekly TV and radio program that he had ordered the government to begin the work of quitting the G3 trade bloc to "safeguard the national interests."

Chavez said his country withdrew on April 22 from the Community of Andean Nations (CAN) because the trade bloc's members Peru and Colombia signed a free trade deal with the United States, a move that has impacted the exports of Venezuela.

The similar reason pushed Venezuela to pull out of the G3 trade group, he added.

Venezuela was granted membership by the Mercosur in December, 2005, which also groups Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

However, the Mercosur did not give Venezuela tariff preference for exports enjoyed by other Mercosur members immediately because Venezuela was enjoying tariff preference of CAN at that time as its member.

Source: Xinhua