Brazil was the winner at the Mercosur summit

From left: Presidents Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, Dilma Rouseff of Brazil, José Mujica of Uruguay and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina at the Mercosur summit

The conventional wisdom is that Venezuela was the big winner at last week’s Mercosur summit when the country officially joined South America’s trade bloc. But for me, the big winner was Brazil.

Granted, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, alongside Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, and Uruguayan President José Mujica, was the centre of attention in Brasilia as he signed Venezuela’s official incorporation into Mercosur on Tuesday.

It was Chávez’s first official trip abroad not related to his cancer treatment in