It was tried several times and it never worked in the long run. The alphabet soup started with that Andean Pactconverted to Andean community; then this came Mercosur (South American Common Market), later the Integration of South American Regional Infrastructure (IIRSA). Unasur and the penultimate was prosecution
Some of these initiatives, although they have failed, are officially still alive, albeit murkily. The ideological factor is largely the one that caused these projects to fail. lula It intends, at least in theory, to take that burden off the summit that is opening the curtain today in Brasilia.
The President of Brazil, ready to exercise regional leadership (his role as mediator in the war in Ukraine has failed him), has invited the Presidents of Brazil ArgentinaBolivian, chiliColombia, EcuadorGuyana, Paraguay, PeruSuriname, Uruguay and Venezuela (Maduro is already in Brazil). With the ecxeption of Dina Boluartewho is not willing to get on a plane much and also needs congressional permission to leave the country, the rest have pledged his presence.
Behind closed doors
The meeting will be held almost entirely behind closed doors to avoid leaks that could change the purpose of the meeting. It is well known that some executives take the opportunity during the broadcast to show off media discourses that leave the real content in the background.
Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Viera, tried to dispel the spirit hanging over the forum by declaring that it was not officially a Union of South American Nations Summit. Known by the acronym Unasur, it was founded in 2008 – Efe reports – and throughout its existence has been dominated by the Bolivarian sector, which was in charge Hugo Chavez with the entourage consisting of Rafael Correa, Evo Morales and the “axis of evil” of the 21st century and the Kirchnerist socialism of those years.
Unasur, which Argentina and Brazil rejoined after the slam of just Maurice Macri and from Jair Bolsonarofurther with the Bolivia of Luis Arce and Evo Morales as further members Guyana, Peru and Venezuela.
According to Vieira, in Brasilia they will try to identify themselves “coincidences” And “No differences”and discuss “Concrete Initiatives” in various areas, such as “physical infrastructure” and “border security”, in a high-level dialogue “free of ideological accusations”.
The current political map of South America is two-toned, albeit with a certain left-wing majority. The most extreme case is that of dictatorship Nicholas Maduro and the most moderate, that of Lula herself. Halfway they meet Gustavo Petro, Gabriel Boric and the indescribable Alberto Fernández that, after the failure of its management (and rejection of Cristina Fernández), has waived re-election in December.
In the wing of the moderate right, or liberalism, is the one who opposes the best Luis Lacalle Pou in Uruguay, while the Ecuadorians William Lasso He called snap elections to avoid a political trial in which he had everything to lose. In Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benítez will pass the baton to another “Colorado”. Santiago Pena.
According to the Brazilian minister and reports from Efe, it is about the opening of a “open and direct conversation” to discuss “concrete initiatives” in a high-level dialogue in various areas such as physical infrastructure and border security “free from ideological accusations”. The will expressed is this, but the reality that will emerge from this summit may be different.
The quest for South American integration is a historic challenge. In 1969Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru did it Andean Pact what would later be the Andean Community. Venezuela later joined, although now separated, and Chile left in 1976.
In 1991 originated Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay and seven associated countries) and in 2000 the first South American Summit was convened, which also brought together the Presidents of the twelve countries in Brasilia, convened by the then Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso.
From this first summit emerged the ambitious initiative for South American Regional Infrastructure Integration (IIRSA)which contains plans for hundreds of physical connection works, most of which are still uncompleted or even begun 23 years later.
IIRSA was adopted by Unsur in 2008 and despised since 2019, when the region’s majority moved away from the bloc dominated by the Bolivarian and left-wing governments. The alternation of the cycle led to their emergence prosura forum sponsored by the Colombian governments Ivan Duke and the Chilean Sebastián Pinera which managed to reunite a dozen countries, and as happened with Unasur, today its activity and effectiveness is zero.