Latin America: Community?

The third summit of heads of state of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) will be held in Brasilia on Friday, where the UNASUR Treaty is finally scheduled to be signed.

UNASUR was mooted at the April 2007 South American Energy Summit, held in Venezuela, to replace the moribund South American Community of Nations, itself launched in 2004. UNASUR, which is to have a permanent secretariat in Quito, Ecuador, may represent a vehicle for Brazil to attempt to reassert its leadership role in the region; at the summit, Brazil is expected to propose the creation of a South American Defence Council, the subject of intense regional diplomacy in recent months, and originally a Venezuelan project. The Council, which would coordinate military exercises and defence policies, is seen as a move to limit the influence of the US-dominated Inter-American Defence Board.

However, like many other regional initiatives, both UNASUR and the Defence Council are likely to be plagued by lack of unity. This problem has also undermined the South American Community, energy integration projects such as the 8,000-kilometre 'Gran Gasoducto del Sur' gas pipeline, the nascent regional development bank, Banco del Sur, and even the Mercosur trading bloc, which was founded in 1991 but continues to struggle with political and economic divisions. Conflicting agendas and competition for regional political influence continue to hamper prospects for genuine closer integration.