President Bharrat Jagdeo last week signed a treaty in Brasilia to establish the so-called Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). Comprising Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela, in addition to Guyana, the fledgling union is aimed at promoting continental integration, with particular emphasis on strengthening political dialogue, economic cooperation, social cohesion, energy integration, environmental protection and infrastructure development.
Once ratified by its members, in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements, UNASUR will begin to take formal, operational shape. It will have three councils – at the level of presidents, foreign ministers and delegates – and a secretariat in Quito, Ecuador. Heads will meet annually (yes, more summits!) and foreign ministers every six months. Sectoral ministerial meetings will also be held as determined by the presidents. Former Ecuadorian President Rodrigo Borja has reportedly been nominated for the position of Secretary General and Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet will be the first to hold the rotating presidency of UNASUR.
UNASUR is the result of the vision of Brazilian President Lula da Silva, going back to the First Summit of South American leaders which he hosted in Brasilia in August 2000. It has emerged after progressing through successive summits aimed at deepening regional cooperation and integration, most notably through the initiative for the Integration of the Regional Infrastructure in South America (IISRA), established by the Second South American Summit in Guayaquil, Ecuador, in July 2002 and then through the promulgation of a South American Community of Nations, launched at the Third Summit, in Cuzco, Peru, in December 2004.
President Jagdeo has been a regular attendee at these South American summits and had signalled his early commitment to Lula’s project, built around the two main integration groupings in South America, the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela) and the Andean Community of Nations (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru).
The eventual outcome could well be the creation of a South American version of the European Union, but these are still early days for the long-standing and ambitious Latin American dream of continental unity.
Apart from the power of Lula’s charisma, the economist in Mr Jagdeo would no doubt have been swayed by the numbers put forward by Lula, who sees the future growth of South America in terms of the creation of a vast internal continental market, based on some 360 million people, with a GDP of almost US$1 trillion and exports of goods and services worth US$180 billion.
Mr Jagdeo would in all likelihood have also been convinced of the benefits of integration with South America as evidenced in the literally concrete progress being made in the construction of the bridge over the Takutu. The IISRA also envisions an all-weather Lethem-Georgetown road, which could open up a huge market to the south.
Of course, there are those who view UNASUR as a thinly disguised strategy by Brazil to assert its hegemony in the region. Brazil is after all the largest economy in Latin America and borders all the other countries of South America except for Chile and Ecuador.
Then there is the Chávez factor. With the rise of the radical left in Latin America, fuelled by the Venezuelan President’s petro-dollars, Lula has portrayed himself as the moderate face of the left, playing a more statesmanlike role in rallying other regional leaders behind him.
Rather than seek confrontation with Mr Chávez though, Lula has engaged with him. Lula has supported the Venezuelan’s idea of the Bank of the South, launched in December 2007, with working capital of US$7 billion, of which Venezuela is contributing US$3 billion and Brazil US$2 billion, to finance regional development and combat poverty in the region. And Mr Chávez has supported the Brazilian proposal for a South American Defence Council, as a regional security mechanism for preserving territorial integrity and preventing foreign interventions.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has however blocked approval of the council for the moment, citing the threat of terrorism and the continued possibility of carrying out extra-territorial actions. A task force comprising representatives of the defence ministries of UNASUR will work on preparing a new proposal in three months’ time.
Both the Bank of the South and the Defence Council will be important components of the UNASUR project.
There is undoubtedly great potential for benefit for Guyana in terms of our physical integration and through development cooperation and trade with the rest of the continent. UNASUR could well help to unlock that potential and, in truth, we could not have afforded to be left out.
It is not clear however what Guyana’s financial obligations will be or just how a depleted foreign ministry will properly service and secure benefits from yet another regional process with the plethora of meetings and activities that are bound to ensue. Indeed, one wishes that the government could have engendered a broader, national debate, involving civil society and the private sector, on the pros and cons of signing on to UNASUR before the fact, rather than having it presented as a fait accompli, with little public awareness of the new treaty obligations and their implications for our national security and development.
