Venezuela enters Mercosur trade bloc (AP)

CORDOBA, Argentina - Venezuela formally entered Mercosur Friday, increasing the South American trade bloc's economic might and vowing to transform the once-sleepy policy organization into a force for profound social change. President Nestor Kirchner welcomed the "historic" addition of oil-rich Venezuela, the continent's No. 3 economy after Brazil and Argentina, launching a round of speeches by Latin America's leading leftists, who asserted the region's independence from a Washington model many ...