The president of Brazil, Lula da Silvaonce again defended the idea, rejected by the government of Luis Lacalle Pouto move towards a common currency in South America during the words of welcome to the retreat of leaders that he convened in Brasilia.
The meeting, in which each president will present and then move on to a meeting behind closed doors, is the kickoff for the relaunch of the Unasur as a regional body, a plan by Lula da Silva, which has the backing of the government of Alberto Fernandez in Argentina.
The realization that Brazil and its regional political partners will begin to follow this path came hand in hand with the presence of the Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, in the forum. Brazil and Venezuela resumed diplomatic relations after 8 years.
Lula Da Silva proposed creating a “high-level group with personal representatives of all the presidents” to define a new integration process in Southamerica. The group would meet periodically to present a proposal in 120 days.
“Based on what we decide today, this group will define a map for the integration of South America,” Lula told the other presidents of the region.
The leftist leader assured that he learned that the presidential term is much shorter than it seems. “No time to lose. South America has before it, once again, the opportunity to walk the path of unity. And you don’t have to start from scratch. Unasur is a collective good”, he highlighted.
A model of economic integration that does not convince Lacalle Pou
The Brazilian president detailed how this new stage of integration should be, taking up ideas that were already exposed with the return of Brazil to the mercosur and that they were flatly rejected by President Luis Lacalle Pou, present today in Brasilia.
“We will seek the political, social and economic integration of South America”, said Lula da Silva and highlighted the need to “deepen a monetary identity, as a common reference unit”.
The Brazilian head of state pointed out that the combined GDP of the South American countries will reach 4 trillion dollars this year. “Together we are the fifth world economy. With a population of nearly 450 million, we are a major consumer market,” he said.
In addition, he proposed discussing the creation of “a South America energy market”, at a time when Brazil exports 30% of the electricity it consumes to Uruguay, as a consequence of domestic supply problems due to the historic drought.
Source: Ambito
