Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez met with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Salvador de Bahía, Brazil, to discuss details on a possible membership of Venezuela to the Mercosur economic bloc.

Argentina and Uruguay have already endorsed the addition of Venezuela into the Mercosur, but the issue is now being debated by the parliaments of the other two Mercosur nations, Paraguay, and Brazil. Both should approve the initiative in order to grant the bloc access to the large volume of energy resources in the hands of the Caribbean country.

Brazil's Foreign Minister Celso Amorim headed a debate with the Foreign Relations and National Defence of the Upper House Commission to support Venezuela's integration.

However, the proposition faces strong resistance from Brazilian ex-President Fernando Collor de Mello, who said that Chávez' government does not comply with the basic democratic principles of the countries that make up the Mercosur. "You can not separate the country from its leader," Collor de Mello had told reporters.

The meeting also dealth with nationalizing businesses, but Chávez said he had no intention of nationalizing Brazilian ones. The information was gathered by journalists today who heard Chávez' statements about the nationalization process.