Mercosur has no room for "anti-democratic adventures": Brazilian president

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said on Friday that there is no space for "anti-democratic adventures" in the subregional bloc Mercosur.

She made the remarks at the 48th Mercosur Summit held in Brasilia, where she passed the bloc's presidency to Paraguay after holding the position for six months.

Rousseff praised the realization of periodic elections in the bloc and said the member countries must persist in their democratic ways.

"The periodic elections demonstrate the ability to deal with political differences through dialogue, respect to institutions and popular participation. We must persist in this path and avoid attitudes which incite violence. There is no space for anti-democratic adventures in South America and in our region," she said.

The speech was regarded as her latest statement in allusion to what she calls a certain proclivity for coups among the opposition and parts of the Brazilian society.

Brazil's poor economic performance, rising inflation rate, unpopular economic adjustment measures, scandals at state-controlled oil and gas giant Petrobras, and conflicts with the Congress led to a sharp decrease in Rousseff's popularity to 9 percent, the lowest for a Brazilian president since 1989.

Mercosur was established in 1991 with the aim to promote free trade and the fluid movement of goods, people, and currency. It is composed of five full members -- Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela, five associated countries and two observer countries. Endi