that one. I am a big fan of Condorito. I have to wait for my kids to finish it first, then I sit down and read it and have a good old chuckle. Joe Bloggs, Condorito is indeed a Chilean icone and a very popular export along the Americas. He's got even a monument in Santiago, so no wonder it belongs to the 10 things you associate with the country. Know all the characters... like Che Copete, the braggy Argentine, too? I don't see how accepting Venezuela into mercosur could be considered bad when they have a lot of oil to offer, Paraguay in the other hand couldn't even keep up with the trade of yerba mate not long ago. You live and learn. @25 Pirat Brazil has massive oil reserves already, it doesn't need Venezuelan oil. Venezuelan oil is currently sold on the global market, that won't change. If Argentina buys oil from Venezuela it will still have to pay the market price. The real winners will be the Brazilian oil companies that will be allowed in to Venezuela to exploit the oil there. At the end of the day it is just big companies peddling influence -- good old capitalism hiding behind the mask of Brazilian socialist rhetoric. Although Chavez's intentions are probably good -- I refer to his desire to redistribute wealth -- the fact is that he is failing. Some of his pet projects have had visible success, but the country is stuck with increasing poverty,