Global Courant
Unlike other parts of the world, Latin America is free of war. Yet it is a region plagued by inequality, crime, corruption, drug trafficking and social unrest. Political stability and strong democratic institutions are the exception rather than the rule.
South America, in particular, never seems to stop moving from one extreme to the other, from political left to right and back again, failing to meet the social and economic demands responsible for swinging the pendulum.
Such instability has made it difficult for the continent to form an influential bloc, despite estimates that collectively it represents the world’s fifth-largest economy.
Earlier this week, all 12 South American countries, represented by 11 presidents and the Prime Minister of Peru, gathered in Brasilia to once again denounce the elusive goal of continental integration. Leading the effort was Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
“What he is trying to achieve is the unity of South America,” Lula’s chief adviser, former foreign minister Celso Amorim, told me.
“I think it’s always been important, but it’s even more important now in a world that is becoming more and more blocs. I think in such a world even a country like Brazil, which is very densely populated and has a huge economy, is just not big enough.”
But while Lula is still regarded as the region’s most influential leader, many at Tuesday’s summit were unwilling to take his advice.
Lula had hoped to revive UNASUR, the South American bloc he had helped create 15 years earlier during his first two terms as president. But ideological disputes eventually convinced more than half of the member countries to leave the organization.
“It’s better not to start from scratch,” Lula said at this week’s summit, pitching to UNASUR.
But he failed to convince all of his colleagues who ultimately chose to assemble a group with members from each country to work on a regional integration plan over the next 120 days.
Lula had appealed to South American leaders to put aside their ideological differences and focus on common interests, including economic growth, energy production and environmental protection.
But his decision to welcome Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro the day before the summit drew public criticism. In his remarks, Lula had dismissed the image of an “anti-democratic” Venezuela as a “narrative” promoted by Western countries and the media.
But Chilean President Gabriel Boric said that as a leftist president he disagreed.
“It is not a narrative construction. It’s a reality. It’s serious,” Boric said. He added that respect for human rights was “fundamental and important” for Chile, regardless of the ideology of those who violate them.
Milestone for Maduro
For President Maduro, the meeting was an important milestone. For years he has been isolated from his South American peers – Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Argentina, for example – after many chose not to recognize his 2018 reelection and instead support an opposition government.
During hours of closed-door meetings at this week’s summit, Maduro faced direct criticism from at least two presidents over his human rights record, but he did not take up the gauntlet.
“We have no problem talking to any political force or president in a respectful, tolerant dialogue of unity in diversity. That’s what we had here,” Maduro said after the meeting.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, his Argentinian counterpart Alberto Fernandez and Chilean Boric – all left-wing figures – were among the majority who agreed that South America has never shown such economic potential in history.
It is home to the largest reserves of copper and the highly sought-after lithium used in rechargeable batteries. The region also has the potential to become the largest producer of green hydrogen and other renewable energy sources. And it has huge freshwater reserves, rainforests and an increasingly – if not sufficiently – educated population.
But South America’s economic and political differences have frustrated decades of efforts to create regional unions. UNASUR has not been the only bloc to struggle. MERCOSUR – a union between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay – has also struggled with internal disputes.
What is needed is more pragmatism, say some experts. And the current immigration crisis in South America could fuel it.
More than seven million Venezuelans have left their homeland since 2015, according to the United Nations. If countries like Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia want to repatriate undocumented Venezuelans and establish an orderly system of legal migration, some observers think they need Maduro’s cooperation.
Boric referred to cooperation with Venezuela to solve the crisis on the border between Chile and Peru.
“Together with the governments of Peru and Venezuela, through a dialogue with the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, we have been able to resolve this crisis and allow a Venezuelan aircraft to return the citizens of that country. send them to their homeland,” said Boric.
According to the EU model?
Amorim, Lula’s adviser, pointed to the European Union as a model for how South American countries can build a new bloc, even with a diversity of political opinions.
“You have different political positions in Europe. You have centre-right governments. You have governments that you could say are even more right-wing than centre-right. And you have the centre-left governments,” Amorim said. “And yet, at least on some topics, they can speak — if not with a single voice — at least in a coherent way.”
However, Lula’s dream of a united South America is still far from success. But politicians like Amorim see hope in Europe’s example. After all, the 12 countries of South America are much more similar culturally and linguistically than the members of the European Union.
“Of course there will be different views,” Amorim said of a possible South American bloc. “But we have common interests in many ways. We must work for our interests in a united way. Because that way we have more clout.”
There is much to gain and no time to lose, Lula explained at the summit, referring to South America’s long history of being under the shadow of powerful economic and political powers, stretching back to the earliest days of colonialism .
“We can’t wait another 500 years in the margins,” he warned.
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