Margie Zapata, Maria Nieto, Mary Herman, Brent Winslow,
Victor Silva, Rodrigo
UNASUR HISTORY
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Union of South American Nations
International organization created in 2008- newest
regional integration project
Combination of MERCOSUR and Andean
Community of Nations
Motive is regional integration in energy, education,
health, environment, infrastructure, security and
democracy
UNASUR MEMBERS
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Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile,
Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname,
Uruguay, Venezuela
Panama and Mexico are observers
Official language: English, Spanish, Portuguese,
Dutch
UNASUR
In its short history UNASUR has
attained a good amount of legitimacy
 It helped with:
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 Colombia and Venezuela diplomatic crisis
 Reducing crime
 Limiting defense expenditures
 Integrating energy and financial systems
 Handling constitutional crisis in Ecuador and
Paraguay
Composed of four organs:
1) The Council of Heads of State and
Government
2) The Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs
3) The Council of Delegates
4) The General Secretariat
The Council of Heads of State
and Government
Supreme organ of UNASUR
 designed to establish the political links,
action plans, and programs needed for
South American integration
 Annual meeting
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 Others may be requested to the president
pro-tempore
The Council of Ministers of Foreign
Affairs
composed of foreign ministers from
UNASUR member countries
 responsible for implementing decisions made
by the Council of Heads of State
 coordinate positions on central themes of
South American integration
 Biannual meetings
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The Council of Delegates
implements and adopts the resolutions
reached by the other two councils
 responsible for promoting public dialogue to
help maximize citizen participation in the
process of South American integration.
 Meets every two months
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The General Secretariat
executes the mandates submitted by the
other organs
 Assist the Council of Heads of State and
Government, the Council of Ministers of
Foreign Affairs, the Council of Delegates and
the Pro Tempore Presidency, in the
performance of their duties.
 The Secretary General shall be appointed by
the Council of Heads of State and
Government at the proposal of the Council of
Ministers of Foreign Affairs, for a period of
two years, renewable once.
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Sector Councils
Sector Councils
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Council on Citizen Security, Justice,
Coordination of Action against
Transnational Organized Crime
Council of Science, Technology, and
Innovation
Council of Culture
Council of Education
Electoral Council of UNASUR
Council on Economy and Finance.
Sector Councils
Council for the Global Drug Problem
 Council of Infrastructure and Planning
 Council of Social Development
 Council of Health
 Council of Defense
 Council of Energy
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Policy
“…regional integration in energy,
education, health, environment,
infrastructure, security and democracy.”
 “Their efforts are aimed to deepen the
bond between South American nations..”
 EU like system
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Economics
General Goals:
 Eradicate poverty and overcome inequality
 Financial Integration
 Exchange of information, training and
experience
 Elimination of tariffs
 Bank of the South
 Similar to World Bank
 Common Currency
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Infrastructure
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“Infrastructure and the related services, by their
very nature, act as vehicles for territorial,
economic and social cohesion…”
Transportation key
 Roads
 Railways
 Institutional reform
EX. Interoceanic Highway
Defense
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General goals:
 Zone of peace and contributor of world peace
 A South American identity on defense
 Regional cooperation on defense
Not like NATO
 Cooperative; Multilateral military cooperation
 No standing military
EX. UnasurHaiti
OAS
Organization of American States
 Consists of every country in North,
South and Central America
 Founded in 1948
 Based in Washington DC
 Four pillars are– Democracy, human
rights, security and development
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Differences with OAS
Share many of the same objectives,
primarily promoting democracy
 Main difference is approach to defense
 UNASUR successfully intervened in
Bolivia during the 2008 Bolivian crisis,
on the other hand OAS opted to stay
away from Bolivia
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Relationship with OAS
Since its development UNASUR has
taken significant power away from OAS
 South Americans see OAS usefully
since it has members that are not part of
UNASUR
 They do see UNASUR as a more
effective option for South America itself
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Relationship (Cont.)
Worked together during the 2008
Andean Crisis when Colombia attacked
FARC group on Ecuadorian soil
 UNASUR often undermines OAS mainly
because most South American leaders
see UNASUR as a better option
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Relationship (Cont.)
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Brazilian Foreign Affairs Minister, Celso
Amorim said,
 “ I believe that for the exercise of good
offices among South American countries
UNASUR or Merocusor, depending on which
case, can be more effective”
Synopsis
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UNASUR and OAS do not have a bad
relationship, but since its development
UNASUR has taken a great deal of
power from OAS in regards to South
American foreign relations and most
South American leaders see UNASUR
as a more effective option
Benefits of councils
ISAGS - South American Institute of
Government in Health:
 Provides higher quality training to
Healthcare providers.
 Closer monitoring of possible health
risks in order to avoid future diseases
 Possibility of a Universal health care
system
Benefits of councils
South American Council for the World drug
problem:
 Will create programs for addicts to
reduce or completely stop drug use.
 Negative and positive incentives are set
in place to encourage success.
 Change the world’s opinion on South
America.
Benefits of councils
Defense Council of South America:
 Allows for countries to seek diplomatic
resolution to issues instead of violence
and International intervention.
 Promote South America as a place for
peace.
 Exchange of information between
countries for better chance at
maintaining peace.
Discussion
Will Unasur and OAS continue to work
together on various issues or will they
come into conflict with each other on
many issues?
 Will Unasur help and promote
democracy in Latin America?
 Will Unasur have the success that the
EU has had?
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Works Cited
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www.unasursg.org
http://www.eclac.org/publicaciones/xml/1/46131/2012-19-UNASURInfrastructure.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_South_American_Nations
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interoceanic_Highway
http://laht.com/article.asp?CategoryId=12394&ArticleId=329400
http://www.as-coa.org/articles/explainer-what-unasur
hereandnow.wbur.org
www.aracari.com
sperglord.wordpress.com