President of the Andean parliament Luis Fernando Duque on Monday urged Venezuela to become an associate member of the Andean Community, rather than quit it completely.

If Venezuela accepts the suggestion, the country will continue to benefit from the trade bloc, Duque said, adding that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez can make a decision on his own.

"The Andean parliament hopes that the Venezuelan president, who has been pushing forward the process of regional integration, will accept this idea in the short term," he said.

At Tuesday's meeting, foreign ministers from four Andean countries are scheduled to draft an agreement to ask the United States to extend special trade tariffs and to find common ground for negotiating a free trade pact with the European Union.

Andean leaders met in Quito, capital of Ecuador, on Monday to in a bid to salvage their five-nation commerce bloc after disputes over free trade agreements with the United States revealed deep political divisions in the region.

Source: Xinhua