THORSTENSEN, Vera creator text 1994 monographic Looks at the challenges presently facing Mercosur, viz., Mercosur should spearhead the formation of a new regional bloc encompassing all of South America; Mercosur should maintain a 'global trader' policy while embarking on more aggressive negotiations of preferential and sector-specific agreements with its major trading partner, the European Union; and, Mercosur should forge closer alignment with the US in spearheading the hemisphere-wide process of integration between NAFTA and the South American Free Trade Area. 3/7/00 M2LMGR