Chile’s Prosur initiative could replace the unsuccessful Union of South American Nations (Unasur), which has been practically without activity for three years, Piñera confirmed.
“In the month of March we will have a meeting of presidents in our country to give impetus to the Prosur project, which is a forum for the development of South America,” Piñera said at a press conference at the La Moneda palace on Tuesday.
The presidents of Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Uruguay, Paraguay, Peru, Guyana and Suriname are invited to this meeting.
The Chilean president explained that Prosur will be a body “without ideologies or bureaucracy” that will strengthen the economic integration and build strong trade relationships between countries in the region.
But he clarified that only nations that fulfil requirements such as “the full validity of democracy, the rule of law, and full respect for human rights and freedoms,” may become members of the proposed Prosur organisation.
“You may note that only Venezuela is excluded, because Venezuela does not comply” with the requirements, said Piñera.
The new regional organisation began to take shape last week in a meeting on “South American integration” in which representatives of all the nations of the zone participated, with the exception of Venezuela, in Chile.
International analyst Andre Serbin Pont told the Times it was unclear exactly what direction Prosur would take, given Piñera’s preliminary comments.
“At the moment it seems closer to a high-level forum than an international organisation — so did Unasur too, in its beginnings,” Pont, the director of the Coordinadora Regional de Investigaciones Económicas y Sociales (CRIES), told the Times.
Pont explained that Prosur seemed to be more about replacing the fractured Unasur bloc at present, rather than pushing in any new direction.
“The focus of Prosur emphasises coordination in public policy, the defence of democracy and the market economy, and is presented as an organisation that will not be at the service of any particular country,” Pont continued.
Unasur began operating in 2011 under the wing of the majority of leftist presidents who were governing at that time in South America, among them Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Brazil) and Hugo Chávez (Venezuela). The bloc was left leaderless with the departure of former Secretary General Ernesto Samper in 2017. Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Paraguay and Peru suspended their participation soon after.
“Unasur has failed because of its excess of ideology and bureaucracy and has not achieved any result (...) Prosur will not be an ideological forum like Unasur was,” Piñera said of the group’s recent demise.
Local media reports this week suggested that President Mauricio Macri and Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro would give their support to Prosur.
Pont said that the support of these leaders will be critical to Prosur’s success, and the direction of relations in the regions.
“It will be key to keep an eye
on Brazil’s posture towards Prosur, as less than two months
into [President Jair] Bolsonaro’s
presidency, the main priorities
of his administration’s foreign
policy still seems unclear, particularly regarding regional processes,” Pont told the Times.
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