Union of South American Nations

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Union of South American Nations União de Nações Sul-Americanas (Portuguese) Unión de Naciones Suramericanas (Spanish) Unie van Zuid-Amerikaanse Naties (Dutch)
Political centres		Quito[1] Cochabamba[1]
Largest city		São Paulo
Official languages		4 Dutch English Portuguese Spanish
Ethnic groups (2007)		7 White (46%) Mulatto (21%) Mestizo (21%) Amerindian (6%) Black (4%) Mixed (<1%) Other (2%)
Demonym		South American
Member states		12 Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador Guyana Paraguay Peru Suriname Uruguay Venezuela
Government		Continental union
-	President pro tempore	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	382,433,000
-	Density	21.59/km² (195th2) 55.91/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2007 estimate
-	Total	$3.9 trillion (5th2)
-	Per capita	$10,378 (68th2)
GDP (nominal)		2007 estimate
-	Total	$2.3 trillion (7th2)
-	Per capita	$6,005 (68th2)
Currency		12 Argentine peso Bolivian boliviano Brazilian real Chilean peso Colombian peso Guyanese dollar Paraguayan guaraní Peruvian nuevo sol Surinamese dollar United States dollar Uruguayan peso Venezuelan bolívar
Time zone		(UTC-2 to -5)
Internet TLD		12 .ar .bo .br .cl .co .ec .gy .py .pe .sr .uy .ve

The Union of South American Nations (Dutch: Unie van Zuid-Amerikaanse Naties, Portuguese: União de Nações Sul-Americanas, Spanish: Unión de Naciones Suramericanas, and abbreviated as UNASUR and UNASUL) is a supranational and intergovernmental union that will unite 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 Bogota, Colombia.^[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 1 Overview 2 Origins 3 Structure 4 Current work in progress 4.1 Single market 4.2 Infrastructure cooperation 4.3 Free movement of people 4.4 Economic development 4.5 Defence policy 5 Participating nation states 5.1 Non-participating territories 6 Facts and figures 7 Comparison with other regional blocs 8 Quotations 9 Proposed name change 10 See also 11 References 12 External links 12.1 Articles, editorials, and reports

[edit] Overview

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.

[edit] 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 an unpopular figure because of his 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.

[edit] Structure

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).

[edit] Current work in progress

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]

[edit] Single market

• One of the initiatives of UNASUR is the creation of a single market, beginning with the elimination of tariffs for non-sensitive products by 2014 and sensitive products by 2019.

[edit] Infrastructure cooperation

• There is an Initiative for Infrastructure Integration of South America (IIRSA) underway, which has received the support of the Inter-American Development Bank and the Andean Development Corporation.

• 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 energie-Ring, 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.

[edit] 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]

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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 has not entered the defence agreement due to the ongoing 2008 Andean diplomatic crisis with Ecuador and Venezuela, over their alleged support for the armed group FARC. However it has accepted reviewing the proposal, and will make a decision in 90 days ^[8][9]

[edit] Participating nation states

Main article: Enlargement of the Union of South American Nations

• Members of the Andean Community of Nations (CAN)¹:
  •  Bolivia
  •  Colombia
  •  Ecuador
  •  Peru

• Members of Mercosur²:
  •  Argentina
  •  Brazil
  •  Paraguay
  •  Uruguay
  •  Venezuela

• Other countries:
  •  Guyana³
  •  Suriname³
  •  Chile¹ ²

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.

[edit] Non-participating territories

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

• French Guiana, which is an overseas department of France and is therefore part of the European Union
• The Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, which are overseas territories of the United Kingdom, making them part of the European Union^[10], subject to claims of sovereignty by Argentina. (see Sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.)

[edit] Facts and figures

• Has a gross domestic product of about $2 trillion dollars.^[11]
• It has a population of 380 million, or 6% of the world's people.^[12]
• Covers an area of over 17 million square kilometres (nearly 7 million sq mi)^[12], larger than the world's largest country, Russia.
• The export earnings amount to 181,856,000 dollars.^{[citation needed]}
• Possesses 27% of the world's freshwater sources.^{[citation needed]}
• Has eight million square kilometres of forested land and is surrounded by two oceans.^{[citation needed]}
• Is the world's foremost food producer and exporter.^{[citation needed]}
• Some 90 percent of its inhabitants share a single religion, Roman Catholicism.^[13]
• The great majority of its inhabitants speak one of two related languages (Portuguese and Spanish).^[14]

[edit] Comparison with other regional blocs

Most active regional blocs
(as of 2004, 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 the independent Republic of China (Taiwan) (over which PRC claims sovereignty). This box: view • talk • edit

[edit] Quotations

This section does not cite any references or sources. (June 2008) Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

We are here to make Simón Bolívar's dream real. [...] Sooner, rather than later, we shall have a single currency, a single passport... Sooner, rather than later, we shall have a parliament with directly elected representatives for this new nation that we are creating today.

—Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, 8 December 2004.

Step by step CAN and Mercosur will converge becoming the South American Community, but gradually disappearing at the same time. But in spite of the haste there’s no rush, because we could end with an empty declaration. [...] My idea is that in a few months time CAN should be known as South American Community-CAN and Mercosur, South American Community MS, so we have time to get in touch with the new initials.

—Former Argentine president Eduardo Duhalde, president of the Mercosur Representatives Committee.

[edit] 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.

[edit] See also

• Latin American Parliament
• Continental union
• Free Trade Area of the Americas
• List of Trade blocs
• Rio Group

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Find more about Union of South American Nations on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Dictionary definitions
	Textbooks
	Quotations
	Source texts
	Images and media
	News stories
	Learning resources

• Andean Community: South American Community of Nations
• Brazil Ministry of Foreign Relations: South American Community of Nations
• Tinku: UNASUR/Mercosur
• Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America
• Institute for the Integration of Latin America and the Caribbean
• Latin-American Integration Association
• Do the Mercosur Countries Form an Optimum Currency Area?
• Bank Information Center: Bank of the South
• Southern Affairs: Academic Research on South American Regional Integration

[edit] Articles, editorials, and reports

• MercoPress (2004-11-10): S. American Community Comes to Light December 9
• Miami Herald (2004-11-25): South American Community May Not Be a Pipe Dream
• WikiNews (2004-12): South American Community of Nations announced at Third South American Summit
• Inter Press Service (2004-12-07): Chile Seeks Integration through Energy and Roads
• Inter Press Service (2004-12-07): One Giant Step - and 32 Small Ones
• BBC News (2004-12-09): A Dream With Many Hurdles
• International Herald Tribune (2004-12-27): U.S. Neighbor Relations: Latin America Is No Joke
• Guyana Journal (2005-10): South American Community of Nations To Map out Economic Strategies
• VenezuelAnalysis (2006-09-27): The Push for South American Integration
• BBC News (2006-11-25): S American 12 Cut Travel Red Tape
• Guyana Journal (2006-12): South American Summit in Bolivia Sets Integration Challenges
• Inter Press Service (2006-12-08): The Big Challenges of Regional Integration
• AP (2006-12-09): South American Leaders Dream of Integration, Continental Parliament
• BBC News (2006-12-09): S America Launches Trading Bloc
• BBC News (2006-12-10): Lat-Am Leaders End Second Summit
• Guyana Journal (2007-01): High-level Commission to Map Ideas for South American Union
• Inter Press Service (2007-01-03): South American Integration - or Disintegration?
• EUMA (2007-03): Origin and Evolution of the South American Community of Nations: From Trade to Security Concerns
• EUMA (2007-04): Governance in South American Integration: Insights and Encouragement from the European Union
• Granma International (2007-04-18): Union of South American Nations: Where Energy Resources Will Be the Basis of Development
• Guyana Journal (2007-05): South American Leaders put Energy Integration on Front Burner
• International Herald Tribune (2008-05-22): New South American Alliance to Boost Trade, Ease Political Tensions
• BBC News (2008-05-23): South America Nations Form Union
• International Herald Tribune (2008-05-24): South America Creates Regional Union, Parliament, Despite Divisions

v • d • e Member States of the Union of South American Nations Argentina · Bolivia · Brazil · Chile · Colombia · Ecuador · Guyana · Paraguay · Peru · Suriname · Uruguay · Venezuela

v • d • e Supranationalism and World government topics Theory Supranationalism · Federalism · Confederation · Intergovernmentalism · Anti-nationalism · Globalization · Democratic mundialization · Pax International bodies United Nations (UN) · Interpol · International Monetary Fund (IMF) · World Bank Group (WBG) · World Trade Organization (WTO) Regional bodies European Union (EU) · Arab League · African Union (AU) · Union of South American Nations (Unasur/Unasul) · Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) · Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) · Organization of American States (OAS) · South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) International parliaments United Nations General Assembly · European Parliament · Arab Parliament  · Pan-African Parliament · Latin American Parliament · Central American Parliament · Inter-Parliamentary Union International courts International Criminal Court · International Court of Justice · International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) · African Court of Justice · Central American Court of Justice · Caribbean Court of Justice · European Court of Justice · European Court of Human Rights Law and treaties International law (public · private · supranational) · United Nations Charter · Rome Statute · Kyoto Protocol · European Union treaties · European Union law History League of Nations · Permanent Court of International Justice · Nuremberg Trials · Permanent Court of Arbitration Proposals and concepts World government · United Nations Parliamentary Assembly · Central Asian Union · Pacific Union · North American Union · Federal Europe Movements Federal Union · World Federalist Movement · Global citizens movement · World Union