Union_of_south_american_nations

Union of South American Nations Unie van Zuid-Amerikaanse Naties (Dutch) União de Nações Sul-Americanas (Portuguese) Unión de Naciones Suramericanas (Spanish)
Member state      Observer
Pro Tempore Secretariat		Brasília 15°45′S, 47°57′W
Largest city		São Paulo
Official languages		4 Dutch English Portuguese Spanish
Member states		12 Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador Guyana Paraguay Peru Suriname Uruguay Venezuela
Leaders
-	President	Rodrigo Borja
-	Tempore Secretary	Jorge Taunay Filho
Formation
-	Cuzco Declaration	8 December 2004
Area
-	Total	17,715,335 km² (1st1) 6,839,929 sq mi
Population
-	2008 estimate	384,219,904 (3rd1)
GDP (PPP)		2008 (IMF) estimate
-	Total	$4.224903 trillion (5th2)
-	Per capita	$10,996.05 (67th2)
Currency		12 Argentine peso Bolivian boliviano Brazilian real Chilean peso Colombian peso Guyanese dollar Paraguayan guaraní Peruvian nuevo sol Surinamese dollar United States dollar Uruguayan peso Venezuelan bolívar
Time zone		(UTC-2 to -5)
Internet TLD		12 .ar .bo .br .cl .co .ec .gy .py .pe .sr .uy .ve
1	If considered as a single entity.

USAN redirects here. For the United States Adopted Names for pharmaceuticals, see United States Adopted Name

The Union of South American Nations (Spanish: Unión de Naciones Suramericanas, Portuguese: União de Nações Sul-Americanas, Dutch: Unie van Zuid-Amerikaanse Naties, and abbreviated as Unasur and Unasul) is a fledgling supranational and intergovernmental union that will unite two existing free-trade organizations – Mercosur and the Andean Community – as part of a continuing process of South American integration. It is modelled on the European Union.

According to agreements made thus far, the Union\'s headquarters will be located in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, while the location of its bank, the Bank of the South (Banco del Sur), is still under discussion (one proposal would establish it in Quito, Ecuador, as well). The Union\'s former designation, the South American Community of Nations (Dutch: Zuid-Amerikaanse Statengemeenschap, Portuguese: Comunidade Sul-Americana de Nações, and Spanish: Comunidad Sudamericana de Naciones), abbreviated as CSN; was dropped at the First South American Energy Summit on April 16 2007."Chávez: Presidentes acordaron llamar Unasur a integración política regional" La Tercera, accessed on April 16 2007.

At the 10th meeting of the bloc\'s Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Cartagena, Colombia, in January 2008, it was agreed that the Unasur Treaty will be initialed in June 2008, at the Third Summit of Heads of State of the Union of South American Nations."Eluniversal Daily News" Eluniversal, accessed on January 30 2008.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Origins 3 Structure 4 Flag 5 Current work in progress 5.1 Single market 5.2 Infrastructure cooperation 5.3 Free movement of people 5.4 Monetary Policy 6 Participating nations 6.1 Full members 6.2 Observer states 6.3 Non-participating territories 7 Facts and figures 8 Comparison with other regional blocs 9 Quotes 10 Proposed name change 11 See also 12 References 13 External links 13.1 Articles, Editorials, and Reports

Overview

At the Third South American Summit, on 8 December 2004, presidents or representatives from twelve South American nations signed the Cuzco Declaration, a two-page statement of intent, announcing the foundation of the South American Community. Panama attended the signing ceremony as an observer.

The leaders announced their intention to model the new community after the European Union, including a common currency, parliament, and passport. According to Allan Wagner, former Secretary General of the Andean Community, a complete union like that of the EU should be possible by 2019.

The mechanics of the new entity came out of the First South American Community of Nations Heads of State Summit, which was held in Brasília on 29 September-30 September 2005. An important operating condition of Unasur/Unasul is that no new institutions will be created in the first phase, so as not to increase bureaucracy, and the community will use the existing institutions belonging to the previous trade blocs. A constitutional treaty is also expected to be drafted.

Origins

Simón Bolívar, directly responsible for the independence of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, part of Peru and Bolivia in the early years of the 19th century, and honored with statues in the capital cities of practically every Latin American country, had the goal of creating a federation of nations to ensure prosperity and security after independence. Bolívar never achieved this goal, and died an unpopular figure because of his heavy-handed attempts to establish strong central governments in the nations he led to independence. Throughout the years, many in South America have called for social, political, and economic union. Unasur/Unasul is supposed to be a concrete step towards the achievement of such union.

Structure

At the moment, the provisional structure of the UNASUR is as follows:

• The presidents of each member nation will have an annual meeting, this will be the superior political mandate. The first meeting was in Brasilia on September 29 and September 30 2005. The second meeting was in Cochabamba (Bolivia) on December 8 and December 9 2006. The third meeting was held in Cartagena de Indias (Colombia) in 2007.
• The ministers of foreign affairs of each country will meet once every six months. They will formulate concrete proposals of action and of executive decision. The President of the Mercosur\'s permanent representatives committee and the director of the Mercosur\'s department, the Andean Community\'s general secretary, ALADI\'s general secretary and the permanent secretaries of any institution for regional cooperation and integration, Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization among others, will also be present at these meetings.
• A Secretary General would be elected, to establish a permanent secretariat in Quito, Ecuador. Former Ecuadorian President Rodrigo Borja has been nominated for this position.
• Sectorial Ministers\' meeting will be called up by the presidents. The will be developed according to Mercosur\'s and CAN\'s mechanisms.
• The temporary Presidency will be held for a year and will be rotative among the member countries between each CSN meeting. Former presidents: Peru (2004), Brazil (2005) and Bolivia (2006). According to Decisiones del Diálogo Político, which was signed during the I South American Energy Summit, a general permanent office will be created and this will be hosted in Quito (Ecuador).
• On December 9 2005 a Commission In Charge of Impulsing the Process of South American Integration (Comisión Estratégica de Reflexión sobre el Proceso de Integración Sudamericano) was created. It consists of 12 members, whose function is to elaborate proposals that will help the process of integration between the South American nations. These proposals were to be done for the II CSN meeting (2006).
• Executives Commission, which was created by the II CSN meeting, was transformed in the Political Commission or Delegates Council, according to the Decisiones del Diálogo Político, and
• It is expected that for the III CSN meeting in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, December 2007, an agreement to constitute UNASUR will be ready.

Flag

At present, the Unasur/Unasul has no official flag. However, a website established in 2004 called www.unionsudamerica.net advocating the formation of what is now called the Union of South American Nations displays what is apparently a proposed flag for the organization which has a pale turquoise background with a circle of red stars surrounding a representation of the constellation of the Southern Cross rendered in white stars [1].

Current work in progress

Single market

• One of the initiatives of Unasur is the creation of a single market, beginning with the elimination of tariffs for non-sensitive products by 2014 and sensitive products by 2019.

Infrastructure cooperation

• There is an Initiative for Infrastructure Integration of South America (IIRSA) underway, which has received the support of the Inter-American Development Bank and the Andean Development Corporation.

• Unasur/Unasul started plans of integration through infrastructure cooperation with the construction of the Interoceanic Highway, a road that intends to more firmly link the Pacific Coast countries, especially Chile and Peru with Brazil and Argentina by extending highways through the continent, allowing better connections to ports to Bolivia and the inner parts of Argentina, Peru and Brazil. The first corridor, between Peru and Brazil, began construction in September 2005, financed 60% by Brazil and 40% by Peru, is expected to be ready by the end of 2009.

• The South American Energy Ring (Anillo Energético Sudamericano/Anel Energético Sul-Americano) is supposed to interconnect Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay with natural gas from several sources, such as the Camisea Gas Project in Peru and Tarija Gas Deposits in Bolivia. Though this proposal has been signed and ratified, economic and political difficulties in Argentina and Bolivia have delayed this initiative, and to this date, this agreement remains more like a protocol than an actual project, since Chile and Brazil are already building LNG terminals to import gas from overseas suppliers.

Free movement of people

• Visits by South American citizens to any South American country (except French Guyana) of up to 90 days require only the presentation of an Identity Card issued by the respective authority of the travellers\' country of origin. On 24 November 2006, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela waived visa requirements for tourism travel between nationals of said countries.CNN

Monetary Policy

Presidents of the 7 founding countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, Venezuela and Uruguay) officially launched the South American Bank in Buenos Aires in December 2007. All the founding countries were at the ceremony, with the exception of Tabaré Vazquez, from Uruguay. The capital will be US$ 7 Billion, which Venezuela will be responsible for US$ 3B and Brazil US$ 2B. The headquarter will be located in Caracas with offices in Buenos Aires and La Paz.

The "Banco do Sul" will finance economic development projects to improve local competitiveness and to promote the scientific and technologic development of the member countries. Chile and Colombia participated on initial meeting, but they decided not to join the project.

The founding chart affirms that the Bank will promote projects in "stable and equal" manner and priorities will be to reinforce South America integration, to reduce asymmetries, and to promote equalitarian distribution of investments.

The Brazilian Minister Guido Mantega informed that the bank is not similar to the International Monetary Fund; it will be a credit institution similar to the World Bank or the BIRD.

Participating nations

Full members

• Members of the Andean Community (CAN)¹:
  •  Bolivia (started in 2006 the process of joining Mercosur)
  •  Colombia
  •  Ecuador
  •  Peru

• Members of Mercosur²:
  •  Argentina
  •  Brazil
  •  Paraguay
  •  Uruguay
  •  Venezuela

• Other countries:
  •  Guyana³
  •  Suriname³
  •  Chile¹ ²

¹ These countries are also considered to be associate members of Mercosur
² These countries are also considered to be associate members of the Andean Community.
³ Guyana and Suriname are currently members of CARICOM and entered its single market in 2006. It is unknown if simultaneous Unasur and CARICOM membership would be possible to accomplish and most probably these states will remain Unasur associate members only.

Observer states

•  Mexico
•  Panama

Non-participating territories

The following South American areas are dependent territories and therefore do not participate:

• French Guiana, which is an overseas department of France and is therefore part of the European Union
• The Falkland Islands or Islas Malvinas and South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, which are overseas territories of the United Kingdom, subject of claims of sovereignty by Argentina. (Compare Sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.)

Facts and figures

• Has a GDP at current currency exchange rate of 2,65 trillion dollars as estimated by the IMF in 2006. Due to robust currencies and economies, it is up from 1,506.8 billion in 2005 (World Bank). See List of countries by GDP (nominal).
• Its population of 361 million people.
• Covers an area of over 17 million square kilometers, larger than the largest country, Russia
• The export earnings amount to 181 billion 856 million dollars
• Possesses 27% of the world\'s freshwater sources
• Has eight million square kilometers of forested land and is surrounded by two oceans
• Is the world\'s foremost food producer and exporter
• Its stock of hydrocarbon resources will last 100 years
• Some 95 percent of its inhabitants share a single religion
• The great majority of its inhabitants speak one of two languages (Portuguese & Spanish)

Comparison with other regional blocs

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Most active regional blocs
as of 2004

Regional bloc1	Area		Population	GDP ($US)				Member states1
	km²	sq mi		in millions (PPP)	in millions (nominal)	per capita (PPP)	per capita (nominal)
Agadir	1,703,910	657,883	126,066,286	513,674	N/A	4,075	N/A	4
AU	29,797,500	11,504,879	897,548,804	1,515,000	1,131,850	1,896	1,261	53
ASEAN	4,400,000	1,699,000	553,900,000	2,172,000	1,173,000	4,044	2,118	10
CACM	422,614	163,172	37,816,598	159,536	84,792	4,219	2,242	5
CARICOM	462,344	178,512	14,565,083	64,219	24,020	4,409	1,649	(14+1)3
CCASG / GCC	2,285,844	882,569	35,869,438	536,223	717,800	14,949	20,011	6
CEFTA	298,148	115,116	28,929,682	222,041	122,001	7,675	4,217	(7+1)3
EU	4,325,675	1,670,152	496,198,605	12,025,415	14,609,836	24,235	33,482	27
EurAsEC	20,789,100	8,026,720	208,067,618	1,689,137	1,125,528	8,118	5,409	6
EFTA	529,600	204,480	12,233,467	471,547	740,975	38,546	60,570	4
GUAM	810,506	312,938	63,764,600	456,173	106,469	7,154	1,670	4
NAFTA	21,588,638	8,335,420	430,495,039	15,279,000	15,309,985	35,491	35,564	3
PARTA	528,151	203,920	7,810,905	23,074	N/A	2,954	N/A	(14+2)3
SAARC	5,136,740	1,983,306	1,467,255,669	4,074,031	N/A	2,777	N/A	8
Unasur / Unasul	17,339,153	6,694,684	370,158,470	2,868,430	N/A	7,749	N/A	12
UN and countries for reference2	Area		Population	GDP ($US)				Units4
	km²	sq mi		in millions (PPP)	in millions (nominal)	per capita (PPP)	per capita (nominal)
UN	133,178,011	51,420,318	6,411,682,270	55,167,630	48,245,198	8,604	7,524	192
Brazil	8,514,877	3,287,612	188,078,261	1,594,482	1,067,706	9,108	6,842	27
Canada	9,984,670	3,855,103	32,507,874	1,165,000	1,275,273	35,200	42,738	13
India	3,287,590	1,269,346	1,102,600,000	4,042,000	873,659	3,700	965	35
Japan	377,873	145,898	128,085,000	4,220,000	4,366,459	33,100	34,023	47
PR China5	9,596,960	3,705,407	1,306,847,624	10,000,000	2,644,642	7,600	2,460	33
Russia	17,075,200	6,592,772	143,782,338	1,723,000	984,925	12,100	8,612	89
USA	9,631,418	3,718,711	300,000,000	12,980,000	13,194,700	43,500	45,594	50
Source: CIA World Factbook 2005, IMF WEO Database, IMF nominal figures for 2006. Legend      smallest value among the blocs compared     largest value among the blocs compared Footnotes 1 Including data only for full and most active members. 2 Including the largest five countries by area, population (not #4), GDP (PPP) (not #5), and GDP (nominal) (not #3 or #5). 3 Including non-sovereign autonomous areas of other states. 4 Members or administrative divisions. 5 Data for the People\'s Republic of China does not include Hong Kong, Macau, or regions administered    by the Republic of China (Taiwan). This box: view • talk • edit

Quotes

Dignitaries attend the signing of the Cuzco Declaration.

We are here to make Simón Bolívar\'s dream real. [...] Sooner, rather than later, we shall have a single currency, a single passport... Sooner, rather than later, we shall have a parliament with directly elected representatives for this new nation that we are creating today. —Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, 8 December 2004.

Step by step CAN and Mercosur will converge becoming the South American Community, but gradually disappearing at the same time. But in spite of the haste there’s no rush, because we could end with an empty declaration. [...] My idea is that in a few months time CAN should be known as South American Community-CAN and Mercosur, South American Community MS, so we have time to get in touch with the new initials. —Former Argentine president Eduardo Duhalde, president of the Mercosur Representatives Committee.

Proposed name change

On 28 December 2005, Chilean foreign minister Ignacio Walker proposed that the name of the community be changed to South American Union (Portuguese: União Sul-Americana, Spanish: Unión Sudamericana, Dutch: Zuid-Amerikaanse Unie); nevertheless, many members stated to him that that proposal had already been rejected to prevent confusion related to its acronym (U.S.A.).

The name was finally changed on April 16 2007 to "Union of South American Nations" (Portuguese: União de Nações Sul-Americanas, Spanish: Unión de Naciones Suramericanas), abbreviated "Unasur" in Spanish and "Unasul" in Portuguese. The new name was jointly agreed by all member states during the first day of meeting at the South American Energy Summit held at Isla Margarita, Venezuela.

See also

• Latin American Parliament (Parlatino)
• South America
• History of South America
• Economy of South America
• Brazil
• Continental union
  • African Union
  • Asian Union
  • Central Asian Union
  • European Union
  • Pacific Union
• Free Trade Area of the Americas
• List of Trade blocs
• North American Union
• Rio Group

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Union of South American Nations

Wikinews has related news:

South American Community of Nations announced at Third South American Summit

• Andean Community: South American Community of Nations
• Brazil Ministry of Foreign Relations: South American Community of Nations
• Tinku: Unasur/Mercosur
• Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America
• Institute for the Integration of Latin America and the Caribbean
• Latin-American Integration Association
• Do the Mercosur Countries Form an Optimum Currency Area?
• Bank Information Center: Bank of the South
• Southern Affairs: Academic Research Link for South American Regional Integration

Articles, Editorials, and Reports

• MercoPress (2004-11-10): S. American Community Comes to Light December 9
• Miami Herald (2004-11-25): South American Community May Not Be a Pipe Dream
• WikiNews (2004-12): South American Community of Nations announced at Third South American Summit
• Inter Press Service (2004-12-07): Chile Seeks Integration through Energy and Roads
• Inter Press Service (2004-12-07): One Giant Step - and 32 Small Ones
• BBC News (2004-12-09): A Dream With Many Hurdles
• International Herald Tribune (2004-12-27): U.S. Neighbor Relations: Latin America Is No Joke
• Guyana Journal (2005-10): South American Community of Nations To Map out Economic Strategies
• VenezuelAnalysis (2006-09-27): The Push for South American Integration
• BBC News (2006-11-25): S American 12 Cut Travel Red Tape
• Guyana Journal (2006-12): South American Summit in Bolivia Sets Integration Challenges
• Inter Press Service (2006-12-08): The Big Challenges of Regional Integration
• AP (2006-12-09): South American Leaders Dream of Integration, Continental Parliament
• BBC News (2006-12-09): S America Launches Trading Bloc
• BBC News (2006-12-10): Lat-Am Leaders End Second Summit
• Guyana Journal (2007-01): High-level Commission to Map Ideas for South American Union
• Inter Press Service (2007-01-03): South American Integration - or Disintegration?
• EUMA (2007-03): Origin and Evolution of the South American Community of Nations: From Trade to Security Concerns
• EUMA (2007-04): Governance in South American Integration: Insights and Encouragement from the European Union
• Granma International (2007-04-18): Union of South American Nations: Where Energy Resources Will Be the Basis of Development
• Guyana Journal (2007-05): South American Leaders put Energy Integration on Front Burner

v • d • e Member States of the Union of South American Nations
Argentina · Bolivia · Brazil · Chile · Colombia · Ecuador · Guyana · Paraguay · Peru · Suriname · Uruguay · Venezuela

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