Eleven countries from the region gathered in Chile for the inauguration of Prosur

Heads of State of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru meet in Santiago Meeting of Presidents of South America, an appointment to grant a founding act to a new project of regional integration: Prosur.

The idea of ​​this new block, designed by the leaders of Chile, Sebastián Piñera; and Colombia, Iván Duque, it is replace the Union of South American Nations (Unasur), an organization born in 2008 with twelve member states, of which only Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela remain.

"I want to thank everyone for being here. For more than five years, the presidents of the region have not met, "began his welcome speech to the other presidents.

"We want to create a forum for dialogue, meeting and coordination conducive to integration. We want it to be a forum without ideologies and without bureaucracy: the Forum for the Progress of South America (Prosur)", concluded his brief statement broadcast live before the private session.

Piñera, established as the main promoter of the new integration project, He invited all presidents of the region to this meeting, with the exception of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, but only the leaders of the six countries that, with the exception of Chile, have left UNASUR in recent months have confirmed their presence.

Thus, at the headquarters of the Chilean government, the palace of La Moneda, the presidents of Argentina meet, Mauricio Macri; Brasil Jair Bolsonaro; Colombia, Iván Duque; Ecuador Lenin Moreno; Paraguay, Mario Abdoand Peru, Martín Vizcarra, with Piñera, who will be the host of the event.

"Venezuela is excluded only because it does not respect the requirements of democracy and the rule of law, nor that of respect for the freedoms and human rights of its people. inhabitants."Piñera expressed a few days ago.

The Chilean President invited the President of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, recognized as president in charge of the Caribbean nation by more than fifty countries and who he apologized for his absence in Santiago for reasons of the agenda.

The fact that the Bolivian presidents did not respond in the affirmative to the invitation, Evo Moralesand in Uruguay Tabaré Vázquez, referents of the South American left, has focused some of the criticism against Prosur, which visualize the initiative as a project of the center and right governments of the region.

The presidents of Guyana do not attend the meeting either, David Grangerand Suriname, Desire Bouterse.

The meeting started with a "Dialogue for Coordination and Collaboration in South America"After the participants are supposed to offer a joint statement to the press before ending the meeting with an official lunch.