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Whither UNASUR?

Nov 26, 2010 Editorial

It may appear to be a tad premature to speculate on the future of this noble vision – UNASUR, in effect a United States of South America – so early in the day. But for a nation that took a lead in trying to cobble together a more lasting union with our West Indian neighbours for the last thirty-seven years, only to see it still a (distant) dream, we might be forgiven our apprehension.
One of the major factors that torpedoed our integration movement – which, if the truth be told, has a much greater logic than UNASUR because of the insignificance of our individual economies and states – is the refusal of significant leaders to seize the reins and give themselves unreservedly over to the task.
The key position in UNASUR is that of the Secretary General (SG), since the Heads of States would only meet once yearly and the foreign ministers, twice. The Pro Tempore President would be a sitting, preoccupied, head of state of a member nation. The SG would be, “Helping the Heads of State council, the Foreign Ministers council, the Delegates council, and the Pro Tempore President, in the accomplishment of their tasks (and crucially) proposing initiatives and monitoring the adequate functioning of the UNASUR organizations.”
We know to our cost that this role cannot be delegated to a low level, low profile bureaucrat without any clout.
UNASUR’s first Secretary General was former Ecuadorian President, Rodrigo Borja, who declared he had “substantial disagreements with the integration model” and promptly resigned. Among other things, he predicted that UNASUR would become a political forum and not an institutional organization that defended the interests of the region.
Néstor Carlos Kirchner, the former President of Argentina was then elected in May this year, but unfortunately passed away in October, leaving the position vacant. It was not a good omen that his election had been delayed for almost two years after Colombia, Peru and Uruguay opposed his nomination. The rules had to be amended to the unanimity rule on decisions by a consensus only – where there are no adverse opinions.
There were high hopes among well-wishers of the UNASUR initiative that charismatic President Lula, the outgoing president of Brazil, would have stepped up to the plate after Kirchner’s demise. However earlier this week, in anticipation of the Georgetown summit at which Lula would be present, his spokesman Marcelo Baumbach unequivocally quashed the notion declaring that his boss was not interested in the job. This was ironic as he emphasised that the next UNASUR Secretary-General had to be a person capable of consolidating the legacy of Kirchner and have a “great regional political projection”, as well as “good access and dialogue with all heads of state”. Who better than Lula?
He, as we pointed out earlier this week, is the conceptualizer of UNASUR, behind which he threw the considerable economic and political capital of Brazil after he rejected the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) sponsored by the US. His conception of an independent political space for South America, free from the hegemonic premises of the Monroe Doctrine of the US, while at the same time collaborating with that country based on our strategic interests, attracted many who feared the more confrontational position of President Chavez of Venezuela and his ALBA initiative.Even though Lula claims that all he wants is rest and relaxation, sceptics feel that he would still be fixated on Brazil’s politics from behind the scene and might want to make another run for the presidency in 2014. It is to be noted that Kirchner, even after he had accepted the Secretary-Generalship, had not resigned from his National Deputy’s seat and also remained as leader of Argentina’s Justicialist Party. Many felt that the SG of UNASUR was merely to give him visibility for a 2011 run.
We once again point out that President Lula, the sponsor of UNASUR, has been unable to have the UNASUR treaty ratified by his legislature, thus denying the institution the one additional vote it needs to become a legal body. So, whither UNASUR?

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