“No country grows alone”: Lula calls for greater cooperation among South American countries

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called for working with neighboring South American countries to boost economic growth in the region.

His words come on the eve of the Latin American leaders’ summit in Brasília.

“I receive this week in Brasília presidents of South America to debate together the future of our region; no country grows alone; we have to work with our neighbors in building alliances for the region’s economic development, strengthening cultural ties and defending democracy,” said Lula.

The meeting of South American leaders will take place in the Brazilian capital on May 30, but Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro arrived in the city on the night of May 29; on this day, he will hold a bilateral meeting with Lula in which they will discuss the normalization of relations between Brazil and Venezuela.

According to a note issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the presence of representatives of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Surinam, Uruguay, and Venezuela has been confirmed.

The only absence will be that of the President of Peru, Dina Boluarte, who cannot attend the meeting due to internal problems in her country.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was the first leader to arrive in the Brazilian capital on Sunday night and will hold a bilateral meeting with Lula on Monday.

“The main objective of this meeting is to resume the dialogue with the South American countries, which was very truncated in recent years and is a priority of the Lula government”, explained in declarations to the media the secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean of the Foreign Ministry, Gisela Padovan, according to Agência Brasil.

According to the diplomat, although Brazil does not intend to present a specific proposal, the summit’s main objective would be to discuss more concrete ways of expanding integration between the countries.

The summit is expected to address issues that will generate common positions among the presidents, such as the fight against organized crime, infrastructure projects, the environment, and climate change.

The meeting is expected to have a less formal and more informal character.

The invitation issued by the Brazilian Foreign Ministry goes so far as to speak of a “retreat”, an environment in which the presidents will be able to converse without so many ties.

GUSTAVO PETRO WILL EMPHASIZE INTEGRATION AT THE SUMMIT

The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, informed that at the summit he would insist on achieving issues such as the climate crisis through the continent’s integration.

“I will go to this summit of Latin American presidents to achieve an agenda to fight the climate crisis in our continent through an effective and concrete process of Latin American integration. We hope for a process of recovery of democracy in Peru,” Petro wrote on his Twitter account.

GUILLERMO LASSO TO ADDRESS REGIONAL SECURITY ISSUES

Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso, in turn, said that he would address security issues in the region during the summit.

“For now, I have certain priorities in my head on this trip (…) such as security issues, ” Lasso told the press before traveling when asked if he will run for reelection in his country’s presidential and early elections scheduled for August 20.

The General Secretariat of Communication of the Presidency said that the president would address the security issue as it is a regional problem.

Lasso said he would meet in Brazil with the Peruvian Foreign Minister, Ana Gervasi, and attend two meeting rounds.

In another statement, it was informed that in the context of this presidential summit, Ecuador would support the construction of regional integration mechanisms that promote respect for human rights, the rule of law, and democracy, with pragmatic agendas for the welfare of the region’s citizens.

THE SUMMIT OF PRESIDENTS IN BRAZIL IS NOT TO “REVIVE UNASUR”

The Chilean Foreign Minister, Alberto van Klaveren, affirmed that the summit of South American presidents to be held this Tuesday in Brazil does not have as its central objective to revive the Union of South American Nations (Unasur).

“We have a pragmatic approach. This is not a Unasur summit; it was not convened in that way, and Unasur will probably be discussed. Still, the accent is rather on cooperation in concrete areas,” said the official in an interview with Radio Cooperativa on Monday.

Unasur was founded in 2008 to increase cultural, social, and commercial exchange in the south of Latin America and from that region with other regions.

Initially, it was formed by Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

However, the bloc has been in crisis since 2018 due to political differences among its member countries and has been paralyzed since April 2019.

The foreign minister added that for his country, the return to Unasur would imply raising the issue again in Congress.

Van Klaveren added that the meeting would address “all issues of interest in the South American sphere”, such as migration, infrastructure, access to energy, and improving trade links between countries.

“We are not so much interested in emphasizing formal institutions but rather in finding ways to cooperate on specific issues,” he added.

He said that the Chilean government seeks an integration or cooperation “beyond political affinities, that goes beyond political cycles”.

The Chancellor pointed out that it had been “many years” since a regional meeting to strengthen integration processes, as in Europe and Asia.

IT IS “POSITIVE” THAT OTHER LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES JOIN BRICS

It is favorable that other Latin American nations could join the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), like Argentina, because this would also promote cooperation within the Latin American region itself, underlining the historic leader of the ruling Workers’ Party and former governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Tarso Genro.

“The possibility of other Latin American countries, like Argentina, joining BRICS is positive. Brazil cannot be understood as a mere leadership over the other local economies; it has to be a cooperating structure,” he said.

He considered that “there are always different protagonists” in a cooperative relationship, so it is “necessary and possible” for other Latin American countries to join the bloc.
Argentina submitted a formal request to join the BRICS.

The Argentine Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, will participate this May 30 and 31 in the annual meeting convened in China by the BRICS bank.

The visit aims to seek new financing and explore new options to reduce the dependence on the dollar as a transaction currency in trade operations.

One of the points to be analyzed is the possibility of the banking institution modifying an article of its bylaws to allow Argentina to trade with Brazil without using dollars.

Genro likewise noted that the Brazilian government intends for South America to have more sovereign relations with the world powers.

“The bet of President [Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva] to hold this meeting [of leaders in Brasília] is to strengthen internal relations in South America, such as continental security, infrastructure, eco-environmental issues, security relations in South America, which has always been a continent that obeyed one of the poles of power.”

“We seek greater independence. We have to know how to relate to all the centers of world power with the same capacity to exercise our sovereignty”, he declared.

He considered that Brazil is making a “shift” in its foreign policy that seeks a “unitary” view of South America.

“We were permanently an imperialized continent from the US, which always transformed us into secondary actors in American policies. Today, with a process of real political integration, we tend to be characters also in the world pact of reorganization of multilateral and bilateral global relations. But we have to understand each other”, he added.

Incorporating Bolivia and Venezuela into Mercosur “gives balance” to the bloc.
The incorporation of Bolivia and Venezuela into the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) brings balance to the bloc, said former Uruguayan foreign minister and former vice-president Roldolfo Nin Novoa to Sputnik.

“Venezuela is going to have elections this year, and there the democratic clause will be complied with; that was the obstacle used to keep it out of Mercosur. Venezuela is important for the balance of the bloc. It is a medium-sized country.”

“The block has a continent country [Brazil], a large country like Argentina, and two small countries. The incorporation of Bolivia and Venezuela balances these asymmetries and provides a more positive integration perspective”, he said.

In February, diplomatic sources confirmed to Sputnik that the Brazilian government intends to resume dialogue with the Venezuelan authorities and will seek to push Bolivia’s entry as a full member of Mercosur.

Local press reported that Lula da Silva and his Argentine counterpart, Alberto Fernández, will try to reintegrate the country governed by Nicolas Maduro into the regional bloc and incorporate Bolivia as a full member.

According to the Uruguayan press, a Venezuelan delegation is seeking to return to the Mercosur Parliament (Parlasur) in Montevideo. Likewise, South American leaders, including Maduro, are meeting this Tuesday in Brasilia at the invitation of the Brazilian president.

On December 8, Bolivian Foreign Minister Rogelio Mayta told Sputnik that Lula’s inauguration as president of Brazil would be a “favorable wind” for the entry of La Paz as a full member of Mercosur.

With information from Sputnik

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