Paraguay assumes pro tempore the presidency of Prosur, a forum without a firmly defined vocation

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Three years ago, a group of countries that wanted to leave Unasur behind, accusing the Union of being a more ideological institution, created the Forum for the Progress and Integration of South America (Prosur), which held its third presidential summit yesterday in Cartagena, Colombia.

But what is the difference or what has this initiative, promoted in 2019 by Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, and Peru, achieved? According to analysts, it is not yet clear.

Colombia held the Prosur pro-temporum chairmanship for a year and relinquished it to Paraguay on Thursday at the III Summit in Cartagena de Indias.

Paraguayan President Mario Abdo said virtually – he could not attend due to a coronavirus – that “Prosur is the platform that promotes integrated actions that can ensure better development in our countries through dialogue and cooperation among states.”

He added that “its greatest value is that it privileges the interests of states and not only those of governments and promotes the full validity of human rights, the rule of law and democracy,” according to EFE.

Ecuadorian analyst Esteban Santos points out that the latter is critical. Progress should be sought in the technical realm and no longer in politics, as integration has worked and achieved success in other latitudes.

He cites as examples the European Union and Mercosur in the region, which has managed to reconcile the differences between Brazil and Argentina despite all the difficulties, and the Andean Community, which has been a successful integration mechanism despite all the stumbling blocks.

Peruvian analyst Luis Benavente believes that an integration process in the region is complicated.

“In Latin America, I see integration as more of a poem than a reality,” Benavente says.

Observers point out that it is incredible how many organizations have been created in Latin America for integration: Celac, Mercosur, Unasur, Alba, Can, Pacific Alliance.

“A chief of the Court of the Andean Community once told me that it is not so difficult to create an international organization, but almost impossible to destroy it. (What happened with Unasur is) the exception to the rule,” he says.

According to Prosur, 120 technical working sessions were held last year on health, infrastructure, environment, risk management, energy, security, defense, and people transit, with results and progress.