Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez welcomed on Wednesday his country's formal joining of the Common Market of the South(Mercosur).

Achieving membership of Mercosur was "a fundamental step which we have worked for with dedication," Chavez told reporters here after Venezuela's acceptance was agreed upon in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Tuesday.

Venezuela was naturally suited to Mercosur "geographically, politically, economically and socially," he said, adding that Venezuela's membership helped create a new Mercosur which clearly had a leftist neo-liberal ideology.

The timetable agreed upon at the Buenos Aires meeting required Venezuela to adopt the common rules of the bloc over four years, respect free trade within the group and to enforce common tariffs.

Mercosur -- a trade bloc made up of Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay -- indicated its support for Venezuela's membership at the end of last year.

The timetable has to be ratified by Mercosur's presidents at a July summit. Argentina is now the bloc's acting leader, a role which rotates every six months.

Venezuela announced in April its withdrawal from another regional trade bloc, the Community of Andean Nations (CAN), citing its opposition to free trade agreements signed with the United States by members Peru and Colombia.

Venezuela has also decided to quit the Group of Three (G3), which Venezuela had belonged to along with Mexico and Colombia since 1995.

Source: Xinhua