The Union of South American Nations: Formation and Cooperation

The Union of South American Nations, known by its Spanish acronym UNASUR, was an attempt by South American countries to institutionalize political coordination and social cooperation. Its predecessor, the South American Community of Nations, emerged at the Cusco summit in 2004, and the Margarita Island energy summit adopted the Union's name in 2007. Brazil played a leading role in advancing this process of cooperation, but the organization was not made up of a single country.

On 23 May 2008, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela signed the Constitutive Treaty in Brasília. Focusing on political dialogue, education, energy, infrastructure and social policy, the treaty sought to reduce regional inequalities. These twelve countries were the founding signatories; the list does not represent actual participation at any later point.

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Signing did not immediately complete all the legal procedures. Article 26 provided that the treaty would enter into force thirty days after receipt of the ninth instrument of ratification. On 11 March 2011, a resolution of foreign ministers in Quito explicitly welcomed its entry into force and confirmed that the organization possessed full international legal personality. The founding activities of 2008 and formal entry into force in 2011 must therefore be dated separately.

Practical organizational activity had already begun during the transition. Néstor Kirchner became the first Secretary-General in 2010, but this does not mean that the Secretariat was fully operational on the day of signature in 2008. Meetings of heads of state, the rotating presidency and provisional arrangements first undertook political coordination, gradually putting into practice the permanent functions established by the treaty.

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The treaty established a Council of Heads of State and Government, a Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, a Council of Delegates and a Secretariat. The highest level set the direction; foreign ministers coordinated and implemented decisions; and national delegates prepared proposals and followed up on work. The Secretariat, based in Quito, Ecuador, provided administrative support, produced reports and carried out assigned tasks. The rotating presidency organized meetings and represented common positions.

The organization's rules rested on consensus, while relevant norms also had to be incorporated into domestic legal systems through each country's own procedures. This structure preserved member states' control over their commitments but increased the cost of coordinating different policy positions. The treaty also proposed a South American Parliament in Cochabamba, Bolivia, whose details required an additional protocol. That plan cannot be treated as a parliament already operating at the organization's foundation.

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Article 16 assigned responsibility for proposing the Secretariat's regular budget to the Council of Delegates and for approving it to the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs. It required member states to make differentiated contributions based on economic capacity, shared responsibility and equity. This was a mechanism for budgets and contributions, not an automatic equal division among countries of the costs of every regional project.

Argentina's Decree 1055/2010 provides concrete evidence of early funding. In addition to resources supplied by Ecuador, the transitional Secretariat could accept voluntary assistance from other members. Argentina authorized its foreign affairs ministry and the General Secretariat of the Presidency to pay relevant expenses incurred from 4 May 2010 out of their respective budget lines. Regular contributions provided for in law coexisted with national support during the start-up phase, showing that the organization's operations still depended on states committing financial resources.

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On 15 September 2008, the Union's leaders held an emergency meeting at La Moneda Palace in Santiago, Chile, to discuss violent conflict in Bolivia. They supported the constitutional government of Evo Morales, opposed actions undermining constitutional order and territorial integrity, and called on the political and social forces concerned to stop the violence. This was an example of political coordination undertaken before the treaty entered into force.

The La Moneda Declaration also translated that position into working arrangements. It supported sending a commission to investigate the grave events in Pando, decided to establish a commission open to all members and coordinated by the rotating presidency to support dialogue led by the Bolivian government, and created a mechanism to provide assistance such as specialist personnel according to Bolivia's needs. The declaration demonstrates that these tasks were authorized; it does not, by itself, establish that the crisis was completely resolved.

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The South American Health Council, established in December 2008, extended coordination to national health ministries. Its five-year plan for 2010–2015 identified five areas: health surveillance and response, universal health systems, social determinants of health, access to medicines and the health workforce. Technical groups undertook this work, exchanging knowledge through networks of public-health and training institutions.

A contemporary report by the Pan American Health Organization recorded its support for the Union's five-year work plan to promote access to medicines. Such activities allowed cooperation to continue through ministers, technical officials and specialist institutions rather than depending solely on ad hoc meetings of leaders. Common plans nevertheless still depended on implementation by member states. An important early achievement of the Union was to establish channels for coordinating issues and cooperation; this cannot be equated with a unified South American health system or the achievement of every social objective.

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