Odeen Ishmael: UNASUR focuses on its constituent treaty

Guyana's ambassador to Venezuela, Dr. Odeen Ishmael writes: South American countries are currently in the process of finalizing a foundation treaty for the formal launching of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). On January 25-26 in Cartagena, Colombia, the tenth meeting of the Council of Delegates and the follow-up meeting on January 27 of the Foreign Ministers of the South American bloc discussed the draft document and reached agreement on the great majority of its 26 articles.

Much consultation on these arrangements was already initiated by the member states. A major initiative was taken by Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa who on January 23 discussed the draft constituent treaty with the Foreign Ministers and other representatives from Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina and Bolivia at his Presidential headquarters. Also attending the talks was UNASUR pro-tempore secretary Pablo Solon from Bolivia.

Initially, Colombia had agreed to host the third summit of UNASUR Presidents during the same period, but the Council of Delegates decided on a postponement at its November meeting in Santiago, Chile, mainly because of the non-completion of the draft constituent document.

Already, a decision has been taken for the general secretariat of UNASUR to be housed in Quito, Ecuador, and for its first "Permanent Secretary" to be the former Ecuadorian president, Rodrigo Borja. What powers he will hold are still yet to be determined by the twelve member States.

At the Cartagena meeting, further debate ensued on the practicability of creating a parliament of UNASUR, over which numerous differences were raised. Also engaging attention was the important issue of membership quotas that each country will have to contribute to maintain the general secretariat. While no decision was reached on this question, it is believed that the member states will probably agree on a financing formula which combines the mechanisms used in the UN with consideration given to the size of the economies of each country.

In opening the ministerial meeting, Colombian Foreign Minister, Fernando Araujo Perdomo, explained that the major challenges of UNASUR would be the adoption of the constitutional agreement; shaping of an efficient permanent secretariat; overcoming asymmetries between member states; and the consolidation of a South American identity.

Araujo said that the final constitutional agreement for UNASUR must be multidimensional, agile and responsive to South American interests, and that non-bureaucratic and efficient bodies, eventually established, must provide adequate treatment to the central issues affecting the continent's social, legal, infrastructure, financial, energy and educational integration.

In the meantime, the South American bloc has already scored some major achievements since the twelve countries organized themselves as the South American Community of Nations in Cuzco, Peru, in December 2004. Among these was the agreement for the exemption of visas for tourists for the transit of people between the member states for a period of 90 days. That agreement was signed in 2006 by 10 countries, with the exception of Guyana and Suriname.

Another major distinction has been the identification of numerous priority projects aimed at deepening the integration in the field of infrastructure. This effectively pushes the real integration of South America and provides the opportunity to offer greater advantages favoring the increase of foreign and local investment, while improving levels of competitiveness in the members States.

While a greater part of the constitutional arrangements won agreement at the ministerial meeting in Cartagena, some differences in views among a few countries remain. Further discussions will take place in Rio de Janeiro on March 13-14, and it is hoped that the presidential summit in June will give it the final approval. It is also expected that a formal treaty establishing the group will be signed. .

In Cartagena, the Ministers announced that at their next meeting an action plan for 2008-2009 would be ready. They also approved the creation of a working group to establish "a mechanism to settle disputes".

Seemingly, the meeting was surrounded by the tensions that have prevailed since November between Bogotá and Caracas. But Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro who attended the ministerial meeting, took the opportunity to reiterate Venezuela's "respect" for the Colombian people.

Besides Araujo and Maduro, the Foreign Ministers of Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru participated in the ministerial forum. And in the absence of their ministers, Brazil, Paraguay, Suriname and Uruguay were represented by high level officials from their respective Foreign Ministries. Guyana did not attend but it did convey its position on various issues to the pro-tempore secretariat during pre-conference telephonic consultations.

Since there was also discussion on coordination between UNASUR and the two major South American economic groupings, Mercosur and the Andean Community (CAN), thought was given to the active inclusion of Guyana and Suriname since they are not members of either sub-regional grouping. Chile is also unaffiliated but its own economic and political clout on the continent places it in a position as a major player in the integration process.

The Ministers reiterated that Guyana and Suriname would be totally involved in coordination activities. As a result, a consultative mechanism has since been established to allow all member states, including those that are absent from meetings, to be consulted to reach consensus on pending matters. This is significant since the Ministers also agreed that the member-states of UNASUR will make decisions through the consensus process, which they feel will positively enhance cooperation and inject momentum into the integration process.

Odeen Ishmael
embguy@cantv.net


(The writer is Guyana's ambassador to Venezuela. The views expressed are solely those of the writer.)