Union of South American Nations
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Union_of_South_American_Nations".

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Union of South American Nations
Flag of the Union of South American Nations Coat of arms of the Union of South American Nations
Location of the Union of South American Nations
Political centres Flag of EcuadorQuito[1]
Flag of BoliviaCochabamba[1]
Largest city Flag of Brazil São Paulo
Official languages
4
Ethnic groups (2007)
7
Demonym South American
Member states
12
Government Continental union
 -  President pro tempore Flag of Chile Michelle Bachelet
Formation
 -  Cuzco Declaration 8 December 2004 
 -  Constitutive Treaty 23 May 2008 
Area
 -  Total 17,715,335 km² 
6,839,929 sq mi 
 -  Water (%) 27
Population
 -  2007 estimate 382.433 million 
 -  Density 21.59/km² (195th2)
55.91/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2007 estimate
 -  Total $3,673.043 billion (5th2)
 -  Per capita $9,604 (68th2)
GDP (nominal) 2007 estimate
 -  Total $2,349.087 billion (7th2)
 -  Per capita $6,142 (68th2)
Currency
12
Time zone (UTC-2 to -5)
Internet TLD
12
"USAN" redirects here. For the United States Adopted Names for pharmaceuticals, see United States Adopted Name.

The Union of South American Nations - USAN (Spanish: Unión de Naciones Suramericanas - UNASUR, Portuguese: União de Nações Sul-Americanas - UNASUL, Dutch: Unie van Zuid-Amerikaanse Naties - UZAN) is a supranational and intergovernmental union integrating two existing customs unions; Mercosur and the Andean Community, as part of a continuing process of South American integration. It is modelled on the European Union.

The UNASUR Constitutive Treaty was signed on May 23, 2008, at the Third Summit of Heads of State, held in Brasília, Brazil.[2] According to the Constitutive Treaty, the Union's headquarters will be located in Quito, Ecuador. The South American Parliament will be located in Cochabamba, Bolivia, while its bank, the Bank of the South (Dutch: Bank van het Zuiden, Portuguese: Banco do Sul, Spanish: Banco del Sur), will be located in Caracas, Venezuela.[3] The Union's former designation, the South American Community of Nations (Dutch: Zuid-Amerikaanse Statengemeenschap, Portuguese: Comunidade Sul-Americana de Nações, and Spanish: Comunidad de Naciones Sudamericanas), abbreviated as CSN, was dropped at the First South American Energy Summit on April 16, 2007.[4]

Contents

Overview

South American leaders sign the "Cuzco Declaration".
South American leaders sign the "Cuzco Declaration".

At the Third South American Summit on 8 December 2004, presidents or representatives from twelve South American nations signed the Cuzco Declaration, a two-page statement of intent announcing the foundation of the South American Community. Panama and Mexico attended the signing ceremony as observers.

The leaders announced their intention to model the new community after the European Union including a common currency, parliament, and passport. According to Allan Wagner Tizón, former Secretary General of the Andean Community, a complete union like that of the EU should be possible by 2019.

The mechanics of the new entity came out of the First South American Community of Nations Heads of State Summit, which was held in Brasília on 29 September–30 September 2005. An important operating condition of UNASUR is that no new institutions will be created in the first phase, so as not to increase bureaucracy, and the community will use the existing institutions belonging to the previous trade blocs.

Origins

Simón Bolívar, directly responsible for the independence of Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, and parts of Peru and Bolivia in the early years of the 19th century, and honoured with statues in the capital cities of practically every Latin American country, had the goal of creating a federation of nations to ensure prosperity and security after independence. Bolívar never achieved this goal, and died after several heavy-handed attempts to establish strong central governments in the nations he led to independence. Throughout the years, many in South America have called for social, political, and economic union. UNASUR is intended to be a concrete step towards the achievement of such union.

Structure

Michelle Bachelet, President pro tempore.
Michelle Bachelet, President pro tempore.
Extraordinary Meeting of Heads of State and Government of the Union of South American Nations, held in Brasília.
Extraordinary Meeting of Heads of State and Government of the Union of South American Nations, held in Brasília.

At the moment, the provisional structure of the UNASUR is as follows:

  • The presidents of each member nation will have an annual meeting, which will be the superior political mandate. The first meeting was in Brasília (Brazil) on September 29 and September 30, 2005. The second meeting was in Cochabamba (Bolivia) on December 8 and December 9, 2006. The third meeting was held in Brasília on May 23, 2008.
  • The ministers of foreign affairs of each country will meet once every six months. They will formulate concrete proposals of action and of executive decision. The President of the Mercosur's permanent representatives committee and the director of the Mercosur's department, the Andean Community's general secretary, ALADI's general secretary and the permanent secretaries of any institution for regional cooperation and integration, Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization among others, will also be present at these meetings.
  • A Secretary General would be elected, to establish a permanent secretariat in Quito, Ecuador.
  • Sectorial Ministers' meeting will be called upon by the presidents. The meetings will be developed according to Mercosur's and CAN's mechanisms.
  • The temporary Presidency will be held for a year and will rotate among the member countries between each UNASUR meeting. According to Decisions Reached in the Political Dialogue[5] (Dutch: Besluiten Bereikt in de Politieke Dialoog, Portuguese: Decisões Tomadas no Diálogo Político, Spanish: Decisiones Alcanzadas en el Diálogo Político), which was signed during the I South American Energy Summit, a general permanent office will be created and this will be hosted in Quito, Ecuador.
  • On December 9, 2005 a special commission was established in charge of advancing the process of South American Integration (Dutch: Commissie ter Stimulering van het Proces van de Zuid-Amerikaanse Integratie, Portuguese: Comissão Estratégica de Reflexão sobre o Processo de Integração Sul-americana, Spanish: La Comisión Estratégica de Reflexión a cargo de formular propuestas con miras a impulsar el proceso de integración sudamericano en todos sus aspectos). It consists of 12 members, whose function is to elaborate proposals that will help the process of integration between the South American nations.
  • Executive Commission, which was created by the II CSN meeting, was transformed in the Political Commission or Delegates Council, according to Decisions Reached in the Political Dialogue[5] (Dutch: Besluiten Bereikt in de Politieke Dialoog, Portuguese: Decisões Tomadas no Diálogo Político, Spanish: Decisiones Alcanzadas en el Diálogo Político).

Current work in progress

Presidents and other members of UNASUR at the First Brasília Summit on September 29, 2005.
Presidents and other members of UNASUR at the First Brasília Summit on September 29, 2005.
Presidents of UNASUR member states at the Second Brasília Summit on May 23, 2008.
Presidents of UNASUR member states at the Second Brasília Summit on May 23, 2008.

At the present time the union exists only on paper. The signing of the treaty was delayed from March until late May due to a Colombian raid on a FARC camp in Ecuador, and disputes regarding the conflict and broader trade issues continue to pose an obstacle. Michael Shifter of the Washington D.C. Inter-American Dialogue called UNASUR a "pipe dream", while saying that "economic conditions in the region have never been riper for this sort of integration".[6]

Single market

Infrastructure cooperation

  • UNASUR started plans of integration through infrastructure cooperation with the construction of the Interoceanic Highway, a road that intends to more firmly link the Pacific Coast countries, especially Chile and Peru with Brazil and Argentina by extending highways through the continent, allowing better connections to ports to Bolivia and the inner parts of Argentina, Peru and Brazil. The first corridor, between Peru and Brazil, began construction in September 2005, financed 60% by Brazil and 40% by Peru, is expected to be ready by the end of 2009.
  • The South American Energy Ring (Dutch: Zuid-Amerikaanse Energiekring, Portuguese: Anel Energético Sul-Americano, Spanish: Anillo Energético Sudamericano) is intended to interconnect Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay with natural gas from several sources, such as the Camisea Gas Project in Peru and Tarija Gas Deposits in Bolivia. Though this proposal has been signed and ratified, economic and political difficulties in Argentina and Bolivia have delayed this initiative, and to date, this agreement remains more like a protocol than an actual project, since Chile and Brazil are already building LNG terminals to import gas from overseas suppliers.

Free movement of people

  • Visits by South American citizens to any South American country (except French Guiana) of up to 90 days require only the presentation of an identity card issued by the respective authority of the travellers' country of origin. On 24 November 2006, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela waived visa requirements for tourism travel between nationals of said countries.[7]

Economic development

Presidents of the seven founding countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, Venezuela and Uruguay) officially launched the South American Bank in Buenos Aires in December 2007. The heads of all the founding countries were at the ceremony, with the exception of President Tabaré Vazquez of Uruguay. The capital will be US$7b, with Venezuela responsible for US$3b and Brazil US$2b. The headquarters will be located in Caracas with offices in Buenos Aires and La Paz.

The Bank of the South will finance economic development projects to improve local competitiveness and to promote the scientific and technological development of the member states. Chile and Colombia participated on initial meeting, but they decided not to join the project.

The founding chart affirms that the Bank will promote projects in "stable and equal" manner and priorities will be pointed to reinforce South American integration, to reduce asymmetries, and to promote egalitarian distribution of investments.

The Brazilian Minister, Guido Mantega, stated that the bank is not similar to the International Monetary Fund; it will be a credit institution similar to the World Bank or the BIRD.

Defence policy

Venezuela and Brazil have put forward a plan for a South American Defence Council which would draft defence policy and serve as a mechanism for regional security. The proposal is currently under discussion by the member states. Colombia was the only country not to join, as a result of the 2008 Andean diplomatic crisis with Ecuador and Venezuela, and their alleged support for the armed group FARC. However after reviewing the proposal they decided to join in July 20, 2008. [8][9][10]

Participating nation states

SACN member states

¹ This country is also considered to be an associate member of Mercosur
² These countries are also considered to be associate members of the Andean Community.
³ Guyana and Suriname are currently members of CARICOM and entered its single market in 2006. It is unknown if simultaneous UNASUR and CARICOM membership would be possible to accomplish and most probably these states will remain UNASUR associate members only.

Non-participating territories

The following parts of South America are dependent territories and therefore do not participate:

Comparison with other regional blocs

Most active regional blocs
(as of 2004,citation needed except as noted)
Regional bloc1 Area Population GDP ($US) Member
states1
km² sq mi in millions (PPP) in millions (nominal) per capita (PPP) per capita (nominal)
AU 29,797,500 11,504,879 897,548,804 1,515,000 1,131,850 1,896 1,261 53
ASEAN (2007 est.) 4,497,493 1,736,000 566,500,000 3,115,480 1,173,000 5,541 2,041 10
CACM 422,614 163,172 37,816,598 159,536 84,792 4,219 2,242 5
CARICOM 462,344 178,512 14,565,083 64,219 24,020 4,409 1,649 (14+1)3
CCASG / GCC 2,285,844 882,569 35,869,438 536,223 717,800 14,949 20,011 6
CEFTA 298,148 115,116 28,929,682 222,041 122,001 7,675 4,217 (7+1)3
EU (2007 est.) 4,324,782 1,669,808 497,000,000 14,953,000 16,574,000 28,213 33,482 27
EurAsEC 20,789,100 8,026,720 208,067,618 1,689,137 1,125,528 8,118 5,409 6
EFTA (2007 est.) 529,600 204,480 12,660,623 567,500 743,300 44,828 60,000 4
GAFTA 9,421,946 3,637,834 280,727,416 1,341,298 N/A 4,778 N/A (16+1)3
GUAM 810,506 312,938 63,764,600 456,173 106,469 7,154 1,670 4
NAFTA (2007 est.) 21,783,850 8,410,792 445,000,000 15,857,000 15,723,000 35,491 35,564 3
PARTA 528,151 203,920 7,810,905 23,074 N/A 2,954 N/A (12+2)3
SAARC 5,136,740 1,983,306 1,467,255,669 4,074,031 N/A 2,777 N/A 8
Unasur / Unasul 17,339,153 6,694,684 370,158,470 2,868,430 N/A 7,749 N/A 12
UN and countries
for reference2		 Area Population GDP ($US) Units4
km² sq mi in millions (PPP) in millions (nominal) per capita (PPP) per capita (nominal)
UN 133,178,011 51,420,318 6,411,682,270 55,167,630 48,245,198 8,604 7,524 192
Brazil (2007 est.) 8,514,877 3,287,612 183,888,841 1,804,000 1,067,706 10,073 6,842 27
Canada (2007 est.) 9,984,670 3,855,103 33,000,000 1,274,000 1,406,000 38,200 42,738 13
India (2007 est.) 3,287,590 1,269,346 1,120,000,000 4,726,000 1,089,000 4,182 1,004 35
Japan (2007 est.) 377,873 145,898 127,433,494 4,346,000 4,346,000 33,800 38,341 47
PR China5 (2007 est.) 9,596,960 3,705,407 1,321,851,888 7,043,000 3,420,000 5,300 2,800 33
Russia (2007 est.) 17,075,200 6,592,772 142,500,000 2,076,000 1,286,000 14,600 9,056 83
USA (2007 est.) 9,826,630 3,794,083 302,000,000 13,543,000 13,794,700 43,500 45,594 50
Source: CIA World Factbook 2005, IMF WEO Database, IMF nominal figures for 2006.citation needed
Legend
     smallest value among the blocs compared     largest value among the blocs compared

Footnotes
1 Including data only for full and most active members.
2 Including the largest five countries by area, population (not #4), GDP (PPP) (not #5), and GDP (nominal) (not #3 or #5).
3 Including non-sovereign autonomous areas of other states.
4 Members or administrative divisions.
5 Data for the People's Republic of China does not include Hong Kong, Macau, or Republic of China (Taiwan).

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Proposed name change

On 28 December 2005, Chilean former foreign minister Ignacio Walker proposed that the name of the community be changed to South American Union (Dutch: Zuid-Amerikaanse Unie, Portuguese: União Sul-Americana, Spanish: Unión Sudamericana); nevertheless, many members stated to him that that proposal had already been rejected to prevent confusion related to its acronym (U.S.A. in comparison to the United States of America).

The name was finally changed on April 16, 2007 to "Union of South American Nations" (Dutch: Unie van Zuid-Amerikaanse Naties, Portuguese: União de Nações Sul-Americanas, Spanish: Unión de Naciones Suramericanas), abbreviated "UNASUR" in Spanish and "UNASUL" in Portuguese. The new name was jointly agreed by all member states during the first day of meeting at the South American Energy Summit held at Isla Margarita, Venezuela.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Security Watch: South American unity ISN, accessed on May 30, 2008.
  2. ^ South America nations found union BBC, accessed on May 23, 2008.
  3. ^ South American Presidents Agree to Form UNASUR Bloc
  4. ^ "Chávez: Presidentes acordaron llamar UNASUR a integración política regional" La Tercera, accessed on April 16, 2007.
  5. ^ a b Documents - Decisions reached in the Political Dialogue among the Heads of State and of Government
  6. ^ Joshua Goodman (2008-05-23). "South American Presidents Meet on New Bloc as Mistrust Builds".
  7. ^ CNN
  8. ^ http://www.ecodiario.es/mundo/noticias/664160/07/08/Uribe-anuncia-que-Colombia-ingresara-al-Consejo-de-Seguridad-de-Suramerica-Unasur.html
  9. ^ "Colombia decidirá en 90 días su ingreso al Consejo Suramericano de Defensa", Caracol (2008-05-23). Retrieved on 2008-5-24. 
  10. ^ Colombia refuses to join regional defense council - People's Daily Online
  11. ^ "Falkland Islands government - organisation". Retrieved on 2008-05-24.

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