BRASILIA, Brazil — South American leaders will meet in the Brazilian capital on Tuesday as part of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s attempt to reinvigorate regional integration efforts that have previously fizzled amid political shifts and polarization of the continent
Analysts say Lula sees an opportunity for integration because of the political affinities of the region’s current governments and appears to want to test leaders’ willingness to cooperate through a revived Union of South American Nations, or Unasur.
Lula told a news conference on Monday that the leaders should discuss cooperation on energy and the fight against crime, suggesting he might consider floating the idea of a regional currency to challenge the dollar of the United States. But he said nothing will be decided during the meeting.
“The main idea is that we have to form a bloc to work together,” Lula said.
First created 15 years ago in Brazil’s capital during the second presidential term of Lula, a former trade unionist, the regional bloc sought to integrate the 12 South American nations culturally, socially, politically and economically.
Unasur’s promoter was the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who saw it as a means of countering US influence in the region, and the group was reputed among some to have a left-leaning bent.
But a subsequent right turn on the mainland saw the group fracture. The last meeting with all Unasur members took place in 2014. After 2017, disagreements over Unasur’s leadership and the participation of Venezuela’s authoritarian president Nicolás Maduro led to the withdrawal of seven countries, including Brazil in 2019 under Lula’s predecessor, the far-right Jair Bolsonaro.
“The biggest problem with Unasur is that it was built at a time when there were left-wing leaders, and it fell apart when right-wing leaders arrived,” said Oliver Stuenkel, professor of international relations at the Foundation Getúlio Vargas, a university and think tank in Sao. Paul “It’s easy to talk about their comeback now, but they have to think of ways to make this second attempt last.”
Tuesday’s meeting in Brasilia will bring together 11 South American presidents and the leader of Peru’s Council of Ministers, whose president, Dina Boluarte, faces charges and cannot leave the country. The meeting has been officially promoted as a meeting of South American heads of state, as Brazil does not want to impose the revival of Unasur.
Lula stressed Monday that this week’s meeting was only about coming together to build cohesion and discuss ideas. “Tomorrow’s meeting does not decide anything,” he said.
He said he has a “dream” to have a regional currency “so that we can do business without depending on the dollar, because the dollar is from the United States and it can do whatever it wants with it.”
The challenge, analysts say, will be to have a bloc that can survive political changes and instability in the region.
Although most of the current presidents of South America are left-wing or centrist, there is no guarantee that the situation will remain that way. This was underlined in May by the success of the right in Chile in a vote to select members of the commission to write a new constitution. That success came after voters rejected a left-leaning draft to replace Chile’s dictatorship-era charter. A similar rightward turn is possible in Argentina, given that incumbent President Alberto Fernández will not seek re-election this year amid rampant inflation.
Venezuela’s Maduro arrived at the meeting in Brasilia on Monday, offering the opportunity for the first official bilateral meeting between Lula and the Venezuelan leader.
Under Bolsonaro, Brazil banned Maduro and many members of his government from entering the country and recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s legitimate president.
At a joint press conference between Lula and Maduro later Monday, he said it is a “historic moment” for both countries.
“After 8 years, President Maduro is visiting Brazil again and we are regaining the right to conduct our foreign policy with the seriousness we have always had, especially with countries that share borders with Brazil,” said Lula.
Maduro has pointed out that both leaders have restored “an open and permanent dialogue between the governments of Brazil and Venezuela”. He also said that “unity and diversity” must dominate the “extremist and intolerant ideologies” that have tried to isolate Venezuela from the rest of the world.
Both leaders said they were interested in boosting trade between their countries.
“It doesn’t matter if the two governments agree, Venezuela is a neighbor and you can’t ignore or break diplomatic ties because we have practical problems that need to be solved,” said Carolina Silva Pedroso, professor of international relations at Sao. Federal University of Paulo.
Pedroso said Brazil could be a mediator in Venezuela’s political crisis and wants to reduce the number of immigrants crossing the border into Brazil, more than 400,000 since 2018.
But the group must overcome its legacy and struggles.
Unasur “could not lead important cooperation projects in different areas after the electoral defeat of some governments”, said Pedroso. “And he didn’t make a direct connection with the populations of his countries.”
According to analysts, political instability in many South American countries will make it difficult for leaders to move forward with initiatives.
Stuenkel said Brazil will want to ensure that all the meeting presidents have some kind of diplomatic relationship, “but that will collapse when a new president comes in.”
“The countries of the region must think about how they will react when Argentina breaks away or if a bilateral crisis develops, such as the conflict between Colombia and Peru on the border,” he said.
Peru’s image has been damaged by criticism of Boluarte after his office violently cracked down on anti-government protests following the ouster of his predecessor, Pedro Castillo.
Colombia, now ruled by a leftist woman, has been critical of Boluarte’s government and both countries have cut diplomatic ties. They also maintain a centuries-old dispute along their shared border over territory and responsibilities for stopping drug trafficking.
Ecuador faces political instability that intensified in May, when President Guillermo Lasso dissolved parliament after facing an impeachment inquiry. New general elections are expected at the end of the year.
“A Unasur without 12 countries would not solve the region’s problems,” said Gisela Padovan, secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean at Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “And we need something permanent that doesn’t depend on particular governments.”
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AP writers contributing to this report: Almudena Calatrava in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Carlos Valdez in La Paz, Bolivia; Frankin Briceño in Lima, Peru; Jorge Rueda in Caracas, Venezuela; and Gonzalo Solano in Quito, Ecuador.
