Paraguay assumes pro tempore presidency of Prosur, which is a forum that continues to be tested

Three years ago a group of countries that wanted to leave Unasur behind, accusing the union of having been an institution created more by ideology, promoted the Forum for the Progress and Integration of South America (Prosur), which yesterday held its third summit presidential in Cartagena, Colombia.

But what has been the difference or what has this initiative promoted in 2019 by Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay and Peru achieved? According to analysts, it is not yet seen.

Colombia had the pro tempore presidency of Prosur for a year and this Thursday it was passed to Paraguay at the III Summit, in Cartagena de Indias.

Paraguayan President Mario Abdo said virtually – he was unable to attend due to having coronavirus – that “Prosur is the platform that, through dialogue and cooperation between States, promotes integrated actions that can guarantee greater development in our nations.”

He then added that “its greatest value is that it privileges the interests of the States, not merely those of the Governments, and that it promotes the full observance of human rights, the rule of law and democracy,” he collects in a publication EFE.

The Ecuadorian analyst Esteban Santos mentions that the latter is a key, since advances must be sought in the technical part and no longer in politics, because integration has managed to work and have successes in other latitudes.

He gives the example of the European Union and Mercosur in the region, which despite difficulties has managed to iron out differences between Brazil and Argentina, and the CAN itself, which with all its setbacks has been a successful integration mechanism.

“Prosur comes at an interesting time, in a totally globalized world that is increasingly looking for more commercial agreements due to all the (present) complexity, to give you a specific pandemic example, the issue of microchips… If we manage to land in the technical part that the agreements go beyond the cocktail of the presidents, Prosur would have chances of success. If this does not manage to pass this first phase, this turn to the left is given and leaders decide to scrap this integration process, we would be facing a new failed attempt”, says Santos, who adds that Prosur has a more commercial and less institutional purpose. than what Unasur was.

Meanwhile, the Peruvian analyst Luis Benavente believes that an integration process in the region is very difficult.

“Latin America is very divided between red (left) and blue (right) and this vision has no meeting point, it is very contrasted, it has no nuances, there is no strong center that reaffirms intermediate positions, equidistant, not for convenience. but by integration”, mentions Benavente, who does not see possibilities for regional integration due to lack of common objectives, unlike Europe, where even having more solid institutions they have problems in that union and the great example was Brexit.

“In Latin America (integration) I see it more as a poem than as a reality,” says Benavente.

Santos recalls that it is incredible to see the number of organizations that have been created in Latin America with the aim of achieving integration: Celac, Mercosur, Unasur, Alba, Can, Pacific Alliance.

“Once a chief in the court of justice of the Andean Community told me that creating an international organization is not that difficult, destroying it is almost impossible. (What happened with) Unasur is the exception to the rule”, he says.

According to Prosur, during the last year there were 120 technical work meetings in health, infrastructure, environment, risk management, energy, security, defense and people’s movement with results and progress in each sector. (I)