Asunción hosted on Tuesday the second round of in-person meetings of the Specialized Migration Forum (FEM), under the Pro Tempore Presidency of Paraguay in Mercosur. The technical meeting brought together official representatives of the bloc's member and associate states to discuss initiatives to strengthen migration cooperation and coordination.
The agenda included strategic topics such as updating instruments on travel documents, mechanisms for exchanging migration information, cooperation on border controls and document security, as well as other initiatives aimed at regional integration.
Delegations from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Panama participated. Bolivia, which became a full member of Mercosur in 2024 and is still undergoing a transition to align its legal and tariff framework with the bloc's rules, did not attend.
Mercosur was founded in March 1991 by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay with the signing of the Treaty of Asunción, aiming to create a common market that would expand trade and investment opportunities among member countries. Venezuela, which joined the bloc in 2006, has been suspended since August 2017 after the invocation of the Ushuaia Protocol on Democratic Commitment.