UNASUR Pushes Forward with Continental Integration as Leaders Express Unease over Colombia-US military Base
Written by Odeen Ishmael
Thursday, 03 September 2009
The inauguration of President Rafael Correa of Ecuador coincided with the holding of the third regular presidential summit of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) in Quito on August 10. In the days preceding this meeting, speculation was rife that the recent agreement by Colombia to allow the use of seven military bases by the US military would be a central issue. But though this matter was discussed, the final summit declaration made no mention of it since the Foreign Ministers at the preparatory meeting the day before did not reach agreement on a proposal by Venezuela and Bolivia to formally issue a condemnation of the plan.
During the discussions, Presidents Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, Cristina Fernandez of Argentina, Evo Morales of Bolivia, Fernando Lugo of Paraguay, Rafael Correa of Ecuador and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela expressed unease over the Colombia-US plan, saying that would pose a serious threat to the region.
But President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia was not there to hear these collective concerns since he was noticeably absent from Quito. He was represented by his Deputy Foreign Minister who defended the bases saying they will not affect outside nations since they would be “completely under Colombian jurisdiction and sovereignty."
Eventually, the summit agreed to convene an extraordinary session in Argentina on August 28 to further examine the issue with Uribe. The Colombian president has insisted that his country needs US support to combat the drug lords and the left-wing FARC guerrillas, currently waging a long-running war against the government.
The Brazilian president has since called upon US President Barack Obama to meet with South American leaders to discuss the implications of the growing American military presence in Colombia.
Despite this crucial issue pervading the summit, intensive discussions on other relevant matters did occur, and by the end of the day, the 12 member countries firmly agreed to strengthen continental integration in a wide range of areas. This was reflected in the Declaration of Quito, which, inter alia, urges the organisation’s Energy Council to develop an energy strategy, an action plan and a project for energy integration.
In addition, the declaration instructed the continent’s finance ministers to complete research on the creation of a Bank of the South, a fund of common reserves, and the possible use of a system for regional payments.
Significantly, the leaders agreed to place a priority on public health over economic and commercial interests, considering medicine as a public good in cases such as pandemics. The South American Council for Health has already begun to take initiatives in fulfilling these goals.
The work of the South American Defence Council, another established agency of UNASUR, was also reviewed. This body has already started to map out policies for military cooperation, humanitarian action, peace-keeping operation, education and training. It may be possible in the future for this Council to expand its role by developing initiatives for the security of the immense biological, water and other natural resources of the huge Amazon region which encompasses seven South American countries.
Further, the summit established four new administrative councils:
· The South American Infrastructure and Planning Council, which replaces the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America (IIRSA), will complete the construction of infrastructure, transport and telecommunications networks, according to criteria of sustainable social and economic development and preserving the balance of ecosystems.
· The South American Counter-narcotics Council proposes to establish a coordination and follow-up process to address the drug problem, acknowledging the progress achieved by member countries, bilateral and multilateral commitments and the principle of shared responsibility.
· The South American Council on Education, Culture, Science, Technology and Innovation is a political authority to define, specify and promote policies and projects.
· The South American Council for Social Development has as its objectives the consolidation of means for social regional development; technical cooperation for the strengthening of systems of social protection and promotion; and the creation of a Social Development Fund.
In addition to these new councils, UNASUR, in its institutional consolidation process, will examine the advisability of establishing a council on human rights which will bring together existing regional resources in order to expand cooperation between member states on this crucial issue.
The leaders also reasserted UNASUR’s commitment to build a South American citizenship, by tackling the issue of migration on the basis of an integral and comprehensive approach and unrestricted respect for human rights of the migrants and their families.
With regards to climate change and environmental issues, the summit drew attention to Guyana’s proposals for the “Creation of Incentives to Avoid Deforestation”, and its “Low-Carbon Development Strategy”, currently undergoing national and regional consultations. The summit also noted the Ecuadorian initiative, “Yasuni-ITT”, aiming to develop alternative sources of income earning, to reduce the unsustainable tapping of natural resources and to optimise conservation of biological diversity.
And in a separate statement, the leaders reiterated their support for the rights of Argentina in the sovereignty dispute over the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) and urged the British and Argentine governments to resume negotiations in order to find the best peaceful and definitive solution to the dispute.
On the question of democracy in the hemisphere, the Quito Declaration condemned the June 28 coup in Honduras that removed President Manuel Zelaya from power. Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, who chaired the summit called for Zelaya's immediate and unconditional return to power and added: “There will not be recognition, by any means, of the rupture from the democratic institutional order. We will not recognise any election issuing from the de facto (Honduran) government.” This position was reiterated by Ecuador's President Rafael Correa, UNASUR’s incoming pro-tempore chairman.
Currently, two necessary actions are required of the member states. First, it is necessary for all member states to ratify the constituent treaty of UNASUR, which will enable it to enter into force. Member states were originally given an April deadline for ratification of the treaty, but this is still pending. The second action is for the election of a suitable candidate, preferably by consensus, for the post of secretary-general.
President Correa, as the pro-tempore chairman over the next year, has already proposed the creation of an observation commission for the electoral process in the region. He will, therefore, face the challenge to implement this important initiative, and apply strategies to fix the existing administrative details to steer the continental body firmly on the path of further integration.
Caracas, 27 August 2009
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/2092/68/
Unasur summit ends with call for peace in South America |
www.chinaview.cn  2009-08-29 13:28:11 |
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| Leaders of the members countries of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) pose for a group photo during the Unasur Extraordinary Summit in Bariloche, Argentina, on Aug. 28, 2009.(Xinhua/Carlos Alvear) Photo Gallery>>> |
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Leaders from the 12 member countries agreed to respect each other's territorial integrity and promised "to establish a mechanism of mutual trust regarding defense and security" in the region.
The Unasur stressed that "the presence of foreign military forces cannot, with its means and linked resources to goals, threaten the sovereignty and integrity of any South American nations and, in consequence, the peace and security of the region."
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| Leaders and other representatives of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) attend a summit on a controversial U.S.-Colombian military agreement in Bariloche, Argentina, Aug. 28, 2009. (Xinhua/Carlos Alvear) Photo Gallery>>> |
During the summit, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe defended the agreement, saying the deal was aimed at fighting drug trafficking and terrorism in his country.
He also regretted that some countries did not share the demanding expressions for the major industrialized nations to aid the fight against drug trafficking.
However, most of the countries at the summit remained cautious about the agreement.
Venezuela is the most vehement opponent to the agreement, and President Hugo Chavez instructed his foreign ministry on Tuesday to get prepared to sever ties with Colombia.
Chavez has said the bases were "a threat" to his country and Colombia was conducting "a war policy," adding the agreement "could generate a war in South America."
Brazil has demanded guarantees from Bogota that activities of U.S. soldiers be restricted to the Colombian territory.
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| Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez attends the news conference in Bariloche, Argentina, on Aug. 28, 2009. The Union of South American Nations (Unasur) Extraordinary Summit ended in Bariloche, on Friday. The summit ended with a commitment to respect each other's territorial integrity and strengthen peace in the region.(Xinhua/Carlos Alvear) Photo Gallery>>> |
"If we agree this (foreign bases) is an issue of national sovereignty it must be like that for everybody under any circumstance, if not we must set controller trust mechanisms to assure the sovereignty of all and each one" of the south American countries, Fernandez said.
Meanwhile, Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez said his country shares the need of keeping South America "as a land of peace." However, he added that Uruguay follows the principle of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs.
Bolivia was also opposed to the deal. "So now we are drug traffickers and terrorists. When they could not call us communists anymore, they called us subversives, and then drug traffickers, and since the Sept. 11 attacks, terrorists," President Evo Morales said.
Morales was referring to accusations made by the Colombian president that some countries in the region supported guerillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) -- considered by Washington and Bogota as a terrorist group financed by drug trafficking -- with weapons and hid the rebels in their territories.
Fernandez suggested that Uribe let the Unasur Defense Council to review the controversial agreement. However, Uribe replied thatthe agreement had been reached and he would not reconsider it.
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Unasur, set up in 2008, groups Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Surinam, Uruguay and Venezuela.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-08/29/content_11962563.htm
UNASUR leaders reject Honduran elections under interim government |
| www.chinaview.cn 2009-08-11 11:03:06 |   Print |
| QUITO, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Leaders from the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) member states affirmed on Monday that they would recognize no election results in Honduras while the interim government was still in power. The leaders once again demanded the immediate restoration of ousted President Manuel Zelaya at the Third UNASUR Summit in Quito, the capital of Ecuador. Chilean President Michelle Bachelet reaffirmed her stance against the coup together with 12 other leaders and called for Zelaya's immediate and unconditional return to power. Ecuador's President Rafael Correa, also UNASUR's new pro tempore president, said in reference to the post-coup Honduran regime that UNASUR would not recognize any interim government. Zelaya was ousted in late June, hours before a planned referendum in Honduras asking citizens if they would support an assembly to review the constitution alongside November's presidential elections. Roberto Micheletti, former head of the Honduran parliament, was later named interim president. US Military Bases in Colombia Threatens UNASUR Managua, Aug 16, (PL).- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez denounced that US military bases in Colombia are threatening the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) bloc. Colombia–EE.UU.: El nuevo pacto A letter Chavez addressed to his UNASUR counterparts was published on Sunday by El Nuevo Diario of Nicaragua. In his letter, Chavez said everything is part of a political military plan orchestrated by Washington against UNASUR. He also warned the military bases pose a threat to the region's natural resources (oil, mining and the Amazonia forest) According to Chavez, Colombia's claims to allow the United States use its military bases and deploy troops in the South American nation are a real threath to peace and to Venezuela's sovereignty. Chavez's letter was published on Sunday in several Latin American newspapers, sources from the Venezuelan embassy in Managua said. |
| Why the U.S. Government Hates Venezuela |  |  |
| Written by Shamus Cooke | |||||||||
| Tuesday, 04 August 2009 | |||||||||
 The propaganda wheels are turning fast. The barrage of anti-Venezuela misinformation that began while Bush was in office has intensified in recent months. Not a week goes by without the U.S. mainstream media running at least one story about the "dictatorial" Venezuelan government. Historically, the U.S. government’s foreign policy "coincidentally" matches the opinion of the media and vice versa. A front page New York Times article on August 2, 2009 cited "new evidence" that the Venezuelan government "still" supports the FARC — a peasant-based guerrilla group that has fought the Colombian government for decades. This "new evidence" is a mere recycling of the last tactical attempt to link the Venezuelan government with the FARC: computers were supposedly confiscated from FARC leaders that showed innumerable ties to Venezuelan government officials. Of course anybody can write anything on a computer and say it came from somewhere else. Evidence like this needs only a willing accomplice — the media — to legitimize it. The Venezuelan government denies the accusations. But even if Venezuela maintained a policy of openly supporting the FARC, it would be more justifiable than the U.S. policy of openly supporting the Colombian government. Colombia is the most-hated and repressive government in the western hemisphere, but the U.S. gives billions of dollars of financial, military and political aide. This despicable relationship has not ended under Obama, but has in fact strengthened. The recent announcement that the U.S. military would move potentially thousands of troops to Colombia, where they will access five Colombian military bases, has put Venezuela and the rest of Latin America on alert. The Obama administration has not explained the move publicly, though Latin Americans need no explanation. The continent has a long history of being exploited by U.S. corporations, who work in tandem with the U.S. government to oust "non-cooperative" governments, using countless tactics to meet their objectives including clandestine C.I.A. coups. The recent U.S.-backed military coup in Honduras sent shockwaves throughout the region, exposing the Obama administration for what it is: yet another government dedicated to the interests of the super-wealthy and corporations, who want their "investments" in Latin America to be protected from "populist" governments who redistribute wealth and land. U.S. corporations have felt their power slipping in the hemisphere for years, much of it due to the influence of Venezuela. This is because social movements in Venezuela have advanced further than anywhere else in the world — factories have been taken over and run by workers, community councils make local decisions democratically, land is being taken over by peasants, independent media is spreading, and the property of U.S. corporations has been taken over to be used for the needs of the average Venezuelan. Although the vast majority of these gains are due to the work of grassroots Venezuelans, the government has not only given approval to such actions, but often is responsible for suggesting the ideas. Venezuela’s example has dramatically changed the political landscape in Latin America, inspiring millions. For the first time, governments and social movements alike feel empowered to oppose U.S. corporate dominance and instead are seeking to arrange their economies in ways that benefit the majority of people. In Venezuela these ideas are often referred to as 21st century socialism, and the rest of the hemisphere is clamoring to get on board. The battle of ideas between 21st century socialism and free-market capitalism has already been settled in the region, with capitalism facing utter defeat. Having lost in the realm of ideas, those supporting capitalism must compensate by other means. Barack Obama is a very outspoken devotee of capitalism, and has shown by his coup in Honduras — and also the military build-up in Colombia — that he will go to any length to prop-up U.S. corporations and rich investors in the region. There can be absolutely no doubt that Obama will seek to undermine the Venezuelan government by any means available, including the very real possibility of a proxy invasion through Colombia. None of these attempts to undermine the advances in Venezuela and other countries will benefit the peoples of Latin America or the United States, minus a tiny minority of the super wealthy. With this kind of understanding often comes organizing and action, with the ultimate aim to end U.S. economic and military intervention abroad, not only in Latin America, but the Middle East and beyond. Shamus Cooke is a social service worker, trade unionist, and writer for Workers Action http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/2035/35/ Marcha mundial contra Alvaro Uribe Colombia y el mundo entero ya se cansaron de Álvaro Uribe Velez.Por que el pueblo no puede caer en la demagogia. Política de este sujeto que desde que subió al poder ha llevado al país de un estado social de derecho a un estado de derecho y de un estado de derecho a un estado de opinión utilizando el llamamiento al nacionalismo queriendo decir esto, que el estado de opinión esta por encima de la constitución lo que equivale a vivir bajo la dictadura de las mayorías. Esta idea de la dictadura de las mayorías no es nueva, estos fueron los cimientos filosóficos del fascismo y el nacionalsocialismo. Estamos cansados de tanta corrupción Estamos cansados de tantas mentiras. Estamos cansados de tantas injusticias. Estamos cansados de tanta pobreza. Estamos cansados de tanta manipulación. Estamos cansados de los crímenes de estado. Estamos cansados de que nos arrodillen. Estamos cansados de que nos tilden de terroristas. Estamos cansados de la usurpación de nuestras tierras. Estamos cansados de las políticas bélicas, violentas y reaccionarias de este sujeto. Por que queremos una Colombia libre, soberana y en paz... donde en verdad reine la democracia. Por estas y por muchísimas razones más. Hoy digo NO MAS ALVARO URIBE VELEZ. EL VIERNES 4 DE SEPTIEMBRE será el verdadero pueblo el que le dirá a Uribe NO MÁS. Nos reuniremos en una gran marcha de carácter pacifico, para corear una sola voz, la de no mas Uribe, no mas dictadores, no mas a este gobierno corrupto, no mas, a la farsa de referendo reeleccionista. NO MAS URIBE!!! Es importante que vayamos conformando un frente latinoamericano de lucha conjunta, y por eso les envío esta invitación por parte de un grupo de izquierda mundial. La opción lógica es que en nuestro país, la manifestación sea en el Zócalo. Por favor reenvíen a todos sus contactos y organicemos contingentes para llevar carteles y pancartas. A continuación,la info completa: Ejecuciones Extrajudiciales en Colombia |
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