By Xiu Ying, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On his first trip within South America after becoming president, Jair Bolsonaro skipped Argentina, traditionally the primary destination of newly elected presidents, and headed to Chile to launch PROSUR (Forum for Progress and Development in South America), which will exclude Venezuela.
PROSUR has been characterized as a right-wing response to the left-wing UNASUR (South American Union), and many have asked whether South America needs a new regional body.
Less than three months later, in Buenos Aires, the initiative seemed to have lost momentum and was little discussed at meetings between ministers, parliamentarians and the presidents of Brazil and Argentina. Greater expectation was created around a potential agreement between Mercosur and the European Union.
Argentine President Mauricio Macri opened the extended meeting by inquiring into the final adjustments to the agreement between Mercosur and the European Union. PROSUR, on the other hand, was not mentioned.
Brazilian Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo, however, told UOL Notícias that Brazil remains committed to PROSUR and the time has come to define ways to take the next steps.
“We are still interested in this process. We believe it is very promising. Now we must begin to develop new mechanisms. Chile, as one of its main founders, is also considering ideas. We fully agree. So we are not discussing things in too much detail in Buenos Aires, as there are not many ideas on how to implement PROSUR yet, but we concur and believe that this is the path,” he said.
Augusto Heleno, cabinet Minister for Institutional Security, said PROSUR is important to make the integration philosophy clear among the signatory countries and strategically reinforce the isolation of the Nicolás Maduro dictatorship in Venezuela.
He credited the absence of debate around PROSUR to the group’s initial formation and to insufficient time to discuss further issues.
The first PROSUR Summit, called the “Meeting of Presidents of South America”, took place on March 22nd, 2019 in Santiago de Chile.
Eight South American countries taking part (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, and Peru) signed the Declaration of Santiago for the renewal and strengthening of South America, which begins the process of creating of PROSUR.
The representatives of Bolivia, Suriname, and Uruguay abstained from signing the declaration.
Upon the creation of PROSUR the founding countries have withdrawn from the South American Union (Unasur), a talking shop which once included all 12 of the continent’s nations.