On November 30, 2012 the Heads of States and of Governments of
the Member States of the Union of South American Nations gathered in Lima,
Peru, for the VI UNASUR Presidential Summit. They addressed the need of deepening
the political, economic, social, cultural, energetic, environmental,
infrastructural South American integration. At the same time, they reaffirmed
their commitments to promote and give priority to these issues, which are an
essential and strategic part of the agenda.
On the
other hand, the Ecuadorian President, Rafael Correa, compared the European and
the South American citizenships. In this regard, he indicated that the
construction of a common citizenship is a goal that “South America, of course,
must learn from Europe”.
The
UNASUR Constitutive Treaty was signed on
May 23, 2008 in Brasilia, Brazil. It is composed by twelve Member
States: The Andean Community (CAN) – Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru –, the
Southern Common Market (Mercosur) – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela and other members (Chile, Guyana,
Surinam).
If we look at the original organization
intentions we find two fundamental concepts: 1 – the building of South American
identity and citizenship and 2- the development of an integrated regional
space. If we talk about an integrated regional space, we mean necessarily unity
in a cultural, social economic and political sense. The key is given by opening
a dialogue. The Royal Spanish Academy defines dialŏgus
(from Latin) as “debate or treatment in search of
agreement”. It is clear that big deals require yielding some privileged
postures. The measure of what we give is directly proportional to what we
received. Hence a close and unidimensional attitude avoids the possibility to
perceive your neighbour as the extension of yourself.
Can we talk about a genuine
integration in South America?
Under the problematic socio-economic inequality, social
exclusion, lack of interest in public affairs and the
erosion of democratic institutions, South America is trying to build, in a
participative and consensual way, a space for integration despite the
absence of a regional identity. Correa affirmed that Europeans “killed each
other in the II WW and in other conflicts, but now they are almost like one
country”. The hard measures taken in some EU countries, which weren't able to
control their debt, show that, on the one hand,
the missing dialogue caused firstly an unconditional acceptance of cuts
and adjustments and secondly, an unquestionable submission to the German
leadership. On the other hand, the fragility of the
European citizenship's concept that has been built with a lot of efforts and
that, in fact, never exhibited the porosity of this political
construction.
The Euro currency is not sufficient to provide a
sense of belonging together. At this point, there is one clear solution: more
federalism would strengthen the spirit of the European Union.
Has the regional integration a chance?
Before analysing the regional integration's issue, it is necessary
speaking about the South American citizenship.
The classic version describes citizenship
as a legal and political status which allows every individual to acquire some
rights (civil, political, social rights) and some duties (taxes, traditionally
military service, loyalty) in relation to a political community, as well as the
ability of intervening in the collective life of a State. The latter right
arises from the democratic principle of sovereignty of people.
Nowadays the transition from a mere passive residentship to
a protagonist and active citizenship requires an egregious compromise for the
region. The President of Peru, Ollanta Humala, called for the South American
citizenship to become "a reality"
in the UNASUR Presidential Summit. At this point, neither wishful
expressions nor institutional vestments are sufficient. On the one hand, we own
the formal institutions like laws, decrees, treaties and on the other hand, the
informal ones like customs and practices. The hardest challenge is removing the
formal one to give space for the genuine integration essence, which means an
agreement inter partes, fulfilled by
giving and keeping the word.
Why are the integration policies
still weak in the region?
Group shots and grandiose words aren't enough to build a
South American citizenship. The key is setting apart personal fame and giving
way to those who remain. Every country still
has too much problems but common solutions and agenda should be
priorities. Working together removes automatically personal selfishness. At the
moment, every government is concerned about his own matters, which makes
planning the next 25 or 30 years impossible.
Create a South American consciousness will take a long time.
The South American Parliament, launched by the Andean Parliament, proves it. As
a deliberative body and representing the peoples of UNSAUR countries, it has
community intentions and it is responsible for the political control over the Union's institutions, functioning as dialogue and
negotiation space on behalf of the South American integration development.
It is expected that during the first half of
2013 the
Forum of Presidents of Legislative Branches in Central America and the
Caribbean (FOPREL) involving the Presidents of the
Andean and Mercosur Parliaments will discuss and
approve the draft of the Additional Protocol to the UNSUR Constitutive Treaty,
which forces the Constitution of the South American Parliament, in order to be
presented to the Council
of Heads of State and of Government of Unasur.
The core issue is an open and frank dialogue to achieve a
large consensus about the protection and development of the integration
interests. It means therefore to left behind self interests and to put forward the neighbour; and
the agreement of individual acts brings to an authentic Federalism. God is the
base of this unconditional Love. It is time to wonder how much we desire a
South American consciousness and how much we are willing to give up our self
interests. The results of these efforts are fruitful life and prosperous
growth.
GRETEL LEDO
Lawyer, Political Scientist, Sociologist, Master in International
Relations Europe – Latin America, Bologna University, International Policy
Analyst
Published by The Federalist Debate
