07.04.2023
The South American giant joins Argentina in an attempt to give new impetus to the regional alliance, which has lost most of its members in recent years.
The government of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva officially announced this Friday (04.07.2023) the return of Brazil, after four years, to the Union of South American Nations (Unasur)a block that was born in 2008 under the influence of left-wing administrations from which it left four years ago by decision of the far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro.
“At a time when its main international alliances are resuming, Brazil will once again form part of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur),” the Brazilian presidency announced in a press release. The respective decree was signed on Thursday night by Lula, reported the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The re-entry will be effective on May 6. “Just like Brazil, Argentina also announced that it will return to the bloc“, which after having the twelve South American nations in 2010 and a total population of almost 400 million inhabitants, currently only has Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela, in addition to Peru, which is suspended, recalled the Foreign Ministry.
Crisis and conservative turn
The objective of Unasur is to “promote integration between South American countries”, integrating Mercosur and the Andean Community “beyond the economic sphere”, achieving “social, cultural, scientific-technological and political integration”, the Brazilian government specified. in the note. Unasur was paralyzed by not being able to elect a new secretary general since 2017 to succeed the Colombian Ernesto Samper.
In addition to the indecision to replace Samper, the conservative turn that the region took after the creation of the bloc and the different views on the Venezuelan crisis weakened Unasur in recent years, with the departures of Colombia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay and Ecuador, in addition to Brazil and Argentina. With his reintegration, “Brazil ratifies its commitment to the consolidation of South America as a zone of peace and cooperation,” Lula’s foreign ministry said.
DZC (EFE, AFP)