At the end of the summit held on Tuesday in Brasilia in which the Venezuelan Nicolás Maduro stole the attention and again generated discrepancies, the South American presidents managed to agree on a declaration in which they committed to design a roadmap to oversee greater regional integration,
In the document, which was an expression of good intentions, the leaders recognized the importance of maintaining a regular dialogue to boost collaboration and project the voice of the region in the world.
The meeting was convened and led by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio "Lula" Da Silva, who is betting on retaking leadership in the region after returning to power for the third time earlier this year.
Family photo of the Unasur summit in Brasilia. Photo: EFE
The presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Uruguay, Suriname and Venezuela also attended. On behalf of Peru, Alberto Otárola, president of the Council of Ministers, attended.
The document was sealed after several hours of debate and after several presidents made public their questions against the populist Venezuelan leader, whose government weighs multiple complaints of human rights violations.
Maduro did not want to go into depth in that debate and at the end of the meeting told reporters that "a respectful, tolerant dialogue, of union in diversity" prevailed.
The right-wing Uruguayan president, Luis Lacalle Pou, had previously criticized the Venezuelan government in a message he broadcast on his Instagram account during the plenary of heads of state. He said that in Venezuela there are many groups "trying to mediate so that there is a full democracy, for human rights, so that there are no political prisoners."
The message was broadcast as the leaders' closed-door debate was taking place at the Itamaraty Palace.
Lacalle Pou also questioned that the summit was preceded the day before by a bilateral meeting between Brazil and Venezuela in which Lula was totally in favor of the Venezuelan leader, describing as "absurd" that some governments do not recognize him as the president duly elected by his people.
The same critical position was expressed by Chilean Gabriel Boric, who although he was pleased that Venezuela returned to multilateral bodies, stressed that this does not mean "turning a blind eye" to allegations of human rights violations.
In this regard, Boric said he expressed his disagreement with what Lula said after his meeting with Maduro about the questioning of the Venezuelan government as "a narrative construction."
The president of Chile, Gabriel Boric. Photo: EFE
"They are not a narrative construction; it is a serious reality and I have been able to see it in the eyes and pain of hundreds of Venezuelans who are in our homeland who demand a firm position that human rights must be respected always and everywhere, regardless of the political color of the current ruler," Boric said.
Despite his criticism, the Chilean president said he rejects the sanctions imposed on Venezuela by the United States and the European Union and asked that they be lifted.
Strengthening ties, a necessity
Pablo Ibáñez, a professor of geopolitics at Rio de Janeiro's Federal Rural University, said it was urgent for Lula to strengthen ties with Venezuela, in part because of the border they share and the need to deal with Venezuelan migrants and refugees.
But he may have gone too far in his embrace of Maduro's government, Ibanez said.
Lula and Maduro, neighbors. Photo: Reuters
The president of Argentina, the Peronist Alberto Fernández, also held a meeting with Maduro within the framework of the regional meeting and asked Venezuela to return to international organizations and forums.
After the meeting, the Argentine government said that a road map must be agreed with the ruling party and the opposition of Venezuela "where they work on the guarantees for the electoral process of 2024."
He also stressed the need for the sanctions imposed on Venezuela to be lifted.
Alberto Fernández also held a meeting with Maduro. Photo: AFP
Lula: "A historic moment"
At a news conference between Lula and Maduro on Monday, the Brazilian leader said this was a "historic moment" for both countries. Both leaders expressed interest in boosting trade between their countries.
At the summit, discrepancies also surfaced regarding the suitability of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) as a forum for regional collaboration after its virtual dissolution due to the ideological differences that persist among the countries of the subcontinent.
Unasur
The final document does not mention this forum, which once had 12 partners and today only hosts seven: Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Suriname and Guyana.
Brazil and Argentina rejoined this year the bloc that both countries helped to realize in 2008 along with other nations then governed by leftist or center-left forces.
Lula's predecessor, the right-wing Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022), had distanced himself from Unasur, as had other conservative leaders who considered it useless and doomed to clothe populism in Venezuela.
Lula said in his opening speech at the summit that there should be no preconceived ideas about the institutional design that South American countries could adopt and that what should prevail is a space "that allows us to discuss regularly and guide actions towards strengthening integration."
The leaders finally agreed in the declaration to establish a "contact group", headed by the foreign ministers of the twelve countries meeting, to evaluate "the experiences of integration mechanisms" and the elaboration of a road map "that will be submitted to the consideration of the Heads of State".
A new encounter
They agreed to meet again, at a date and place to be determined.
During the meeting in Brasilia, the Brazilian president tried to circumvent the different positions by urging his guests to iron out the rough edges after years of disagreements, many of ideological roots.
No to the dollar
He said the group should discuss the creation of a currency to challenge the hegemony of the U.S. dollar, forge a common energy market, fight climate change and collaborate on defense and security of the region.
Lula highlighted the potential of the region. "The combined GDP of our countries is expected to reach four trillion dollars this year. Together we are the world's fifth largest economy. With a population of nearly 450 million, we are an important consumer market."
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during the summit in Brasilia. Photo: Bloomberg
The definition of an agenda of objectives also came up against the different needs of countries, some of which suffer political and economic crises. Left and center-left forces govern in most nations and the right is in power in others or appears as a political alternative.
This was evidenced in May by the success of right-wingers in Chile in the vote to elect those in charge of drafting a new constitution. A similar shift to the right is possible in Argentina, where Fernández will not stand for re-election in October against a backdrop of accelerating inflation.
Associated Press writers Carla Bridi in Brazil, Carlos Valdez in Bolivia, Eva Vergara in Chile, Frankin Briceño in Peru; Guillermo Garat in Uruguay, Jorge Rueda in Venezuela and Gonzalo Solano in Ecuador contributed to this report.
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