With the abstention of Uruguay and Bolivia, eight countries of Latin America have signed the founding act of Prosur

Santiago de Chile (special envoy) – Argentinian presidents, Mauricio Macri; Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro; Chile, Sebastián Piñera; Colombia, Iván Duque; Ecuador, Lenin Moreno Garcés, Peru Martín Vizcarra; Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benitez; and Guayana, David Arthur Granger, signed Friday the Declaration of Santiago, by which the Prosur was created, the new space that seeks to replace Unasur. Uruguay, Bolivia and Suriname abstained.

On the proposal of Argentina's Mauricio Macri, Sebastián Piñera will be Acting President of Prosur for a period of 12 months and the next summit will be held in Paraguay.

At the Palacio de La Moneda, where the presidents met, the three abstaining countries were represented by lower-ranking officials: Bolivia was Vice-Chancellor Carmen Almendras; for Uruguay, Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs Ariel Bergamino; and for Suriname, the ambbadador to Santiago, Marciano Edgar Armaketo.

The text of the statement makes an indirect reference to Venezuela, noting that only democratic countries can be part of the alliance.

Around noon, the presidents began to meet at the Palacio de la Moneda to debate the establishment of the Forum for the Progress of South America (Prosur) and to bury the Union of Nations of the United Nations. South America (Unasur), a multilateral creation conceived by Hugo Chávez and Néstor Kirchner

The "Presidential Statement on Renewing and Strengthening the Integration of South America" ​​ensures that "this space should be implemented gradually, having a flexible, lightweight and inexpensive structure , with clear operating rules and an agile mechanism of decisions ". And this will promote "integration in infrastructure, energy, health, defense, security and crime control, prevention and management of natural disasters".

In a clear allusion to the Venezuelan situation, the statement states: "The essential conditions for participating in this space will be the full validity of democracy, of the respective constitutional orders, of respect for the principle of the separation of State powers and the promotion, protection, respect and guarantee of human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States, in accordance with international law. "

The burial of Unasur and the creation of Prosur constitute a new chapter of the regional ideological dispute led by multilateral diplomacy. When Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, Bolivian President Evo Morales and the Kirchner couple imposed the Latin American agenda, UNASUR functioned as an expensive entity that hardened relations with Cuba, Russia, Iran and China. Chavez with his oil-financed Unasur, which acted as a multilateral and dialectical defense against the plans of the United States.

With the death of Chávez and the coming to power of Macri in Argentina, Piñera in Chile and Bolsonaro in Brazil, a new geopolitical chapter has begun in South America.

Then the complete declaration:

Presidential Statement on Renewing and Strengthening the Integration of South America

The Heads of State of the Argentine Republic, the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Republic of Chile, the Republic of Colombia, the Republic of Ecuador, the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, the Republic of Republic of Paraguay and the Republic of Peru, meeting in Santiago, Chile, on March 22, 2019:

Aware that the new challenges we face need more than ever to work together to renew and strengthen the process of integration of the nations of South America, in a flexible institutional framework that allows to effectively meet the challenges. who is raising the world today,

We reaffirm that integration is a bridge to the strengthening of multilateralism and the full validity of international law as fundamental tools for our effective integration into the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Knowledge and Information Society,

Based on a rich common history, common struggle for the independence of our peoples, we are determined to join forces and to resolve the problems of the present and face the future challenges that concern us all,

We underline our commitment to consolidate and deepen sustainable development, to eradicate poverty in all its forms and dimensions, to achieve greater equality of opportunity and to enable our citizens to deploy their talents, their ability 39, innovation and entrepreneur,

We reaffirm that the process of creating an area of ​​coordination, cooperation and regional integration must respect the territorial integrity of States, international law and security, and commit to the preservation of America South as a zone of peace,

We recognize the contributions of previous South American integration processes, as well as the need to preserve their heritage, as part of a new, more effective, pragmatic and simple integration space to consolidate their achievements and to evolve without change. duplicate their efforts towards a more integrated region,

We express our thanks to President Sebastián Piñera for his hospitality and his initiative to convene this meeting of South American Presidents in order to advance the integration of South America,

1. Our willingness to build and consolidate a regional area of ​​coordination and cooperation, without exclusions, in order to move towards more effective integration allowing us to contribute to the growth, progress and development of the American countries of the Americas. South.

2. Our recognition of the proposal to create a space for dialogue and collaboration between South America, the Forum for the Progress of South America (PROSUR), and we are in charge of the Foreign Ministers to deepen the dialogue in accordance with the terms of this statement. .

3. That this space be progressively implemented, with a flexible, light and inexpensive structure, with clear operating rules and an agile decision-making mechanism that will allow for progress in South America through agreements concretely understanding and integrating common interests of states and according to their own national realities.

4. This space will deal flexibly and prioritize integration issues in the following areas: infrastructure, energy, health, defense, security and crime, prevention and natural disaster management.

5. The essential conditions for participating in this space will be the full validity of democracy, the respective constitutional orders, respect for the principle of the separation of State powers and the promotion, protection, respect and the guarantee of human rights. and fundamental freedoms, as well as the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States, in accordance with international law.

6. That the Republic of Chile badume the presidency pro tempore of this process over the next 12 months, and then deliver it to the Republic of Paraguay.