http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-brazil25-2008may25,0,2700914.story
BRASILIA, BRAZIL -- A South American union was born Friday as leaders of the region's 12 nations set
out to create a continental parliament.
Some see the Union of South American Nations, or Unasur, as a regional version of the European
Union. Summit host Brazil wants Unasur to help coordinate defense affairs across South America, and
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez calls it a counterweight to the United States.
Chavez said the U.S. is "trying to generate wars in South America" to "divide and conquer."
Brazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, invited other Latin American and Caribbean nations to
join the venture.
"Unasur is born, open to all the region, born under the signs of diversity and pluralism," he said.
But leaders found their own reasons for division. Unasur's first secretary-general, Rodrigo Borja,
resigned Thursday before the organization formally met. He complained that some leaders had balked
at his vision of putting other regional trade blocs, including Mercosur and the Andean Community,
under Unasur.
Leaders were also split over plans for a regional defense council that would resolve conflicts,
promote military cooperation and possibly coordinate joint weapons production.
Colombia is the only nation that opposes joining such a council, saying "the terrorist threat" it
faces at home, amid 40 years of civil conflict, precludes military cooperation. But, a government
statement said, "Colombia does not oppose the creation of a working group to study the theme."
At the summit Friday, Lula urged wealthier nations to cut farm subsidies and import tariffs, and he
defended biofuels, including ethanol, which critics blame for rising food prices.
"We should not be fooled one bit by the arguments of those who, for protectionist or geopolitical
motives, feel uncomfortable with our industry, our agriculture and with the realization of our
energy potential," Lula told the leaders.
Unasur could ease political tensions, promoting development on a continent where intra-regional
trade in 2006 topped $72 billion, experts say.
South America's economy is expected to grow by 4.7% this year, according to the United Nations'
Economic Commission on Latin America.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_South_American_Nations
The Union of South American Nations ~ 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. [1] 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 will be located in Bogota, Colombia.[2]
Jan Rasmussen