Venezuela's Chavez compares 'barbaric' EU immigration rules to US border wall
The Associated PressPublished: July 1, 2008

SAN MIGUEL DE TUCUMAN, Argentina:
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez accused Europe on Tuesday of taking a page from Washington in adopting a "barbaric" immigration policy — in stark contrast to moves by South American nations to enable passport-free travel across most of the continent.

New European Union rules on expelling illegal immigrants amount to a virtual "wall in the Atlantic," Chavez said at a summit of the Mercosur trade bloc, which passed a resolution condeming the EU measure.

"We need a strong stance ... in defense of the dignity of our people," Chavez said to the gathered leaders of Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay, and Chile.

While the United States and Europe tighten their borders, the South American trade group is encouraging the freer movement of people through 10 nations covering almost the entire continent.

Passport-free travel already is allowed among Mercosur's full member states of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. The new travel zone also includes associate Mercosur members — Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.

The EU rules standardize how illegal immigrants are treated, allowing undocumented migrants to be held for a year and a half in jail before being deported, and banning violators from re-entering Europe for as long as five years.

"Many of us are the grandchildren of immigrants who arrived from Europe — from Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland — and here in Latin America they were always received with open arms," Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez said Monday night. "I think it's very ungrateful."
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