South American presidents seek greater integration in Brasilia amid crisis and friction

South American leaders meet on May 30 in Brazil convened by the president Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva in an attempt to reinforce its devalued integration and revalue the role of the region on the international stage, quite a challenge at a time when many are facing political conflicts, economic crises and tense bilateral ties.

The meeting of presidents of the South American countries in Brasilia is an initiative of the leftist president, who after his return to power for the third time in January aims to reinstate him as a leader among his peers after the recent reincorporation of Brazil into regional mechanisms as the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (celac).

Tuesday’s summit will promote a “frank dialogue” among all the presidents to identify common denominators, discuss prospects for the region and reactivate the South American cooperation agenda, said a statement from the Brazilian Foreign Ministry.

The presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Uruguay, Suriname and Venezuela attend. By Peru go to Alberto OtárolaPresident of the Council of Ministers.

“Lula is concerned and busy retaking the leadership lost by his predecessor (the right-wing Jair) Bolsonaro at the regional level. He applies his political logic and feels that Brazil’s weight is great and his status as a regional leader would be strengthened if he manages to unite the countries of the region behind common interests.Argentine Jorge Arias, director of Polilat consultancy, told The Associated Press.

The president convened the meeting a month after announcing in April the reincorporation of Brazil to Unasur, the forum that he helped create in 2008 together with other leftist colleagues and from which, a decade later, Bolsonaro (2019-2023) distanced himself because he considered it useless and destined to wrap up populism in Venezuela.

Colombia, Chile, Paraguay, Argentina, Ecuador and Uruguay were other countries that suspended their participation in the bloc between 2018 and 2020, arguing that it was based on political-ideological alignments and lacked an operational secretariat.

Unasur, which came to add 12 South American nations in order to encourage commercial, social and political integration, today is inactive and is only made up of Argentina -which also rejoined in April- Bolivia, Brazil, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela.

According to Arias, the Brazilian president believes that Unasur “was subjected to polarized games” and would seek to imprint a less ideologized stamp on his current South American integration initiative, in order to achieve a certain unity and ensure that it lasts.

“It’s not like it’s a Unasur summit… At this stage of his new presidency Lula wants to listen without preconceptions to see if the presidents can establish coordination mechanisms; she wants to generate for Latin America an ambitious agenda around common interests”, the analyst maintained.

The call by the Brazilian president occurs when left and center-left forces govern in several countries and the right appears in others as a political alternative, which could hinder the attempt to improve cooperation.

In Argentina, the Peronist Alberto Fernández will not stand for re-election in the October elections and conservative forces appear better placed, in addition to the fact that the extreme right-wing leader Javier Milei is rising in the polls. In Paraguay, a conservative economist was recently elected president, and in Chile, the ultra-right swept the election of the drafters of a new constitution.

The conservative Uruguayan government said that it hopes to know what will be the architecture for regional integration that “Lula” will propose.

For the pragmatic Brazilian president, harmony within the region is necessary, and that includes Venezuela.

Under Bolsonaro’s government, Brazil banned Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from entering the country, since opposition leader Juan Guaidó was recognized as president by part of the international community, including Brazil.

But “Lula” will receive Maduro before or after the summit, confirmed an official from the Brazilian Foreign Ministry who spoke on condition of anonymity because he cannot comment publicly on the matter.

“Venezuela is a neighbor and cannot be ignored or have diplomatic ties broken, as we have practical issues that need to be resolved,” said Carolina Silva Pedroso, a professor of International Relations at the Federal University of Sao Paulo.

“Lula” You could also invite your colleagues to discuss some issues that you consider urgent.

Some are climate change, the war between Russia and Ukraine and how it affects subregional trade; food security; the weight of the debt; the fight against drug trafficking and the search for mechanisms to expedite trade in the region.

The definition of an agenda of common interests meets the different needs of the countries, some of which suffer political and economic crises or maintain disagreements.

Argentina is suffering from accelerating inflation and is trying to bolster its flagging foreign exchange reserves after enduring a historic drought.

Chile wants regulation of migratory flows after facing uncontrolled illegal immigration – mainly of Venezuelans – until late February, when the government deployed the military on its border with Bolivia and Peru.

Peru seeks to position her image hit by criticism of the president Dina Boluarte in his handling of the violent crackdown on anti-government protests that followed the December ouster of his predecessor, Pedro Castillo. Among the most critical is Colombiacountry with which it broke diplomatic relations.

Bolivia maintains a long border disagreement with Chile. Relations with Peru have also cooled as the government of boluarte it was not recognized by La Paz.