Brasilia, July 15 (RHC)-- The 18th Social Summit of MERCOSUR, the Southern Common Market, began discussions in the Brazilian capital, attended by more than 200 representatives of popular movements from Argentina, Paraguay, Venezuela, Bolivia, Uruguay and Brazil.

Inaugurated at the International Convention Center in Brasilia, the event is a forum for dialogue between governments and civil society, in which the delegates take measures and make recommendations to the heads of state of those countries, who will meet on Friday in Brasilia. Citizenship status, social participation, migration, new technologies of information, youth, human rights and women are among other topics to be discussed in-committee.

This meeting takes place amid the membership process of Bolivia as a full member to the group and the negotiation of a free trade agreement between MERCOSUR and the European Union.