The Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) is an
intergovernmental union integrating two existing customs unions – Mercosur and
the Andean Community of Nations (CAN) – as part of a continuing process of
South American integration. It is modeled on the European Union.
The UNASUR Constitutive Treaty was signed on 23 May 2008, at the
Third Summit of Heads of State, held in Brasília, Brazil. According to the
Constitutive Treaty, the Union's headquarters will be located in Quito,
Ecuador. On 1 December 2010, Uruguay became the ninth state to ratify the
UNASUR treaty, thus giving the union full legality. As the Constitutive Treaty
entered into force on 11 March 2011, UNASUR became a legal entity during a
meeting of Foreign Ministers in Mitad del Mundo, Ecuador, where they had laid
the foundation stone for the Secretariat Headquarters. The South American
Parliament will be located in Cochabamba, Bolivia, while the headquarters of
its bank, the Bank of the South are located in Caracas, Venezuela.
On 4 May 2010, at an extraordinary heads of state summit held in
Campana, 75 km north of Buenos Aires, former Argentine President Néstor
Kirchner was unanimously elected the first Secretary General of UNASUR for a
two-year term. This new office was conceived as a first step towards the
establishment of a permanent bureaucratic body for the supranational union,
eventually superseding Mercosur and CAN political bodies.
At the Third South American Summit on 8 December 2004, presidents
or representatives from 12 South American nations signed the Cusco 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 group 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 29–30 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.
The complete integration between the Andean Community and the
Mercosur nations was formalized during the meeting of South American heads of
state that took place on 23 May 2008 in Brasília.
In the 2004 South American Summit, representatives of twelve South
American nations signed the Cuzco Declaration, a two-page letter of intent
announcing the establishment of the then-named "South American Community
of Nations". Panama and Mexico were present as observers. The leaders
announced the intention of modeling the new community in the mold of the
European Union, including a unified passport, a parliament and, eventually, a
single currency. The then Secretary General of the Andean Community Allan
Wagner speculated that an advanced union such as the EU should be possible
within the next fifteen years.
On 28 December 2005, Chilean former foreign minister Ignacio Walker
proposed that the Union's former designation, the South American Community of
Nations, abbreviated as CSN, be changed to South American Union; nevertheless,
many members stated to him that that proposal had already been rejected to
prevent confusion since its acronym of U.S.A. (Spanish: Unión Sudamericana)
would be easily confused for the United States of America.
The name was finally changed on 16 April 2007 to Union of South
American Nations. The new name was jointly agreed by all member states during
the first day of meeting at the First South American Energy Summit, held at
Isla Margarita, Venezuela.
At the moment, the provisional structure of the UNASUR is as
follows:
·
A permanent
Secretariat is to be established in Quito, Ecuador. The Secretary General, with
a two-year mandate, is to be elected on a consensual basis among the Heads of
State of the member states. Former Argentine President Néstor Kirchner was
designated the first Secretary General on 4 May 2010.
·
The presidents
of the member nations will have an annual meeting, which will have the superior
political mandate. The first meeting was in Brasília (Brazil) on 29–30
September 2005. The second meeting was in Cochabamba (Bolivia) on 8–9 December
2006. The third meeting was held in Brasília on 23 May 2008.
·
The Presidency
Pro Tempore is exercised for a one-year period on a pro tempore basis by one of
the heads of state of each UNASUR Member State, the succession following
alphabetical order. The first leader to occupy this position was Chilean
President Michelle Bachelet. According to Decisions Reached in the Political Dialogue
which was signed during the South American Energy Summit.
·
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.
·
Sectorial
Ministers' meeting will be called upon by the presidents. The meetings will be
developed according to Mercosur's and CAN's mechanisms.
·
On 9 December
2005, a special commission was established in charge of advancing the process
of South American Integration. It consists of 12 members, whose function is to
elaborate proposals that will help the process of integration between the South
American nations.
·
An 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.
Organs
·
The organs of
UNASUR are:
·
Council of
Heads of State and of Government of Unasur
·
President Pro
Tempore of UNASUR
·
Council of
Minister of External Relationships of Unasur
·
Council of
Delegates of Unasur
·
Secretary
General of UNASUR
Summits
·
First UNASUR
Summit, 2008, 15 September, Santiago de Chile, Chile.
·
Second UNASUR
Summit, 2009, 10 August, Quito, Ecuador.
·
Third UNASUR
Summit, 2009, 28 August, Bariloche, Argentina.
·
Fourth UNASUR
Summit, 2010, 26 November, Georgetown, Guyana.
·
Fifth UNASUR
Summit, 2011, 29 October, Asunción, Paraguay.
·
Sixth UNASUR
Summit, 2012, 30 November, Lima, Peru.
·
There have been
other presidential extraordinary meetings, such as:
·
May 2010:
Buenos Aires, Argentina. Election of Néstor Kirchner as Secretary General.
·
September 2010:
Buenos Aires, Argentina. Discussion of the 2010 Ecuador crisis.
·
December 2010:
Mar del Plata, Argentina. Kirchner's successor after his death.
·
June 2012:
Mendoza, Argentina. Discussion on the Impeachment of Fernando Lugo and
suspension of Paraguay.
