UNASUR Summit discusses action plan

South American countries have drafted an action plan for the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), approved bylaws and regulations for a South American School of Defense, and introduced a multilateral election watchdog to monitor and discuss elections in South America. These were some of the main outcomes of the UNASUR summit held in Quito, Ecuador, last week.

Other proposals were discussed in the summit, including a database of drug prices to facilitate marketing, and disaster risk management efforts. One of the main points on the agenda at the meeting of Heads of State and Government was to expand infrastructure investments. According to Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff, the 33 projects regarded as central by the UNASUR committee in charge of planning actions will be reduced to seven, so that they can be “effectively” implemented.

During the summit, 12 country leaders attended the opening of the new UNASUR headquarters in Quito, when a statue in honor of Néstor Kirchner, Argentina's former president and the first UNASUR secretary-general, was unveiled. During the ceremony, Ecuador President Rafael Correa, Argentina President Cristina Kirchner, and the new UNASUR Secretary-General Ernesto Samper praised the former Argentinian president, who died in 2010, and advocated greater regional integration.

At a news conference in Quito, President Dilma Rousseff took the opportunity to comment on the recent drop in oil prices in the global market. “It will be felt by countries all over the world, in one way or another, whether positively or adversely,” she said.

For Rousseff, the countries most likely to be negatively impacted are those that levy taxes on oil or where oil provides a major source of revenue – which is not the case with Brazil. On the other hand, she said some countries will benefit from lower prices since they are dependent on oil imports.

Translated by Mayra Borges