The Forum for the Progress and Integration of South America is an initiative by Sebastián Piñera and Iván Duque, for the creation of an integration body to replace the Union of South American Nations.
In the words of the Colombian president, who made the announcement on 14 January 2019, PROSUR would be "a South American coordination mechanism for public policies, in defense of democracy, the independence of powers, the market economy, the social agenda, with sustainability and with due application". On 18 February 2019, the President of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, said "this new forum will be open to all South American countries that meet two requirements: full validity of the rule of law and full respect for freedoms and human rights".
It has been characterised as a right-wing response to the left-wing UNASUR.
On April 3, 2022, the new president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, announced that the country was suspending its participation in the alliance. Suriname joined the alliance in 2022.
Summits
The first PROSUR Summit, called the "Meeting of Presidents of South America", took place on 22 March 2019 in Santiago, Chile. Eight South American countries taking part (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay and Peru) signed the Declaration of Santiago for the renewal and strengthening of South America, which begins the process of creating of PROSUR. The representatives of Bolivia, Suriname and Uruguay abstained from signing the declaration.8 Representatives from Venezuela were not invited to the summit in Santiago.9
The second PROSUR Summit took place on 12 December 2020; due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was held virtually. The heads of state of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru participated in the summit, with Prime Minister Mark Phillips of Guyana and President Luis Lacalle Pou of Uruguay invited as special guests. During the summit, the presidency pro tempore was transferred from its inaugural holder, Chilean President Sebastián Piñera to Colombian President Iván Duque. A presidential declaration was adopted to formalize the transfer and promote regional cooperation between its members in matters related to the pandemic.1011
The third PROSUR summit was held in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia on 26–27 January 2022; the 2022 summit of the Pacific Alliance was also held at the same date and venue. It was attended by five heads of state; its host President Iván Duque of Colombia, President Mario Abdo Benítez of Paraguay, President Guillermo Lasso of Ecuador, Prime Minister Mark Phillips of Guyana and President Sebastián Piñera of Chile. In representation of their respective countries were Vice-president Hamilton Mourão of Brazil and Foreign Minister of Peru Óscar Maúrtua.1213 Argentina sent no delegation, while the President-elect of Chile, Gabriel Boric, declined an invitation by President Sebastián Piñera to attend the two summits in Colombia.14 During the summit, Mario Abdo Benítez succeeded Iván Duque as president pro tempore but attended the summit virtually due to having tested positive for COVID-19.1516
| Year | # | Date | Place | Host |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 1st | 22 March | Santiago, Chile | Sebastian Piñera |
| 2020 | 2nd17 | 12 December | Videoconference | Sebastian Piñera |
| 2022 | 3rd | 27 January | Cartagena, Colombia | Iván Duque Márquez |
There have also been numerous extraordinary meetings;
| Year | # | Date | Place | Host |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 1st18 | 16 March | Videoconference | Sebastian Piñera |
| 2020 | 2nd | 6 April | Videoconference | Sebastian Piñera |
| 2020 | 3rd | 19 May | Videoconference | Sebastian Piñera |
| 2020 | 4th | 27 August | Videoconference | Sebastian Piñera |
| 2021 | 5th | 25 February | Videoconference | Iván Duque Márquez |
| 2021 | 6th | 16 March | Videoconference | Iván Duque Márquez |
President pro tempore
The presidency is exercised for a period of one year and will be rotated among the member countries between each PROSUR meeting. Since January 2022, the current president pro tempore of PROSUR is Paraguayan President Santiago Peña.
| No. | President pro tempore | Portrait | Country | Beginning of the mandate | End of the mandate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sebastián Piñera | Chile | 22 March 2019 | 12 December 2020 | |
| 2 | Iván Duque | Colombia | 12 December 2020 | 27 January 2022 | |
| 3 | Mario Abdo Benítez | Paraguay | 27 January 2022 | 15 August 2023 | |
| 4 | Santiago Peña | Paraguay | 15 August 2023 | Incumbent |
See also
- Politics portal
- South America portal
External links
- Media related to Forum for the Progress and Integration of South America at Wikimedia Commons
References
República, Presidencia de la. "Texto de la declaración del Presidente Duque sobre Prosur en entrevista con 'Oye Cali'" (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 February 2021. https://id.presidencia.gov.co:443/Paginas/prensa/2019/190114-Texto-de-la-declaracion-del-Presidente-Duque-sobre-Prosur-en-entrevista-con-Oye-Cali.aspx ↩
"South American presidents announce creation of new regional bloc". Reuters. 22 March 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2019. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-chile-summit/south-american-presidents-announce-creation-of-new-regional-bloc-idUSKCN1R32BJ ↩
"Why Prosur is not the way to unite South America". The Economist. 21 March 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2019. https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2019/03/23/why-prosur-is-not-the-way-to-unite-south-america ↩
"Bolsonaro says Brazil owes world nothing on environment". Business Standard. Agence France-Presse. 24 March 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2019. https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/bolsonaro-says-brazil-owes-world-nothing-on-environment-119032400048_1.html ↩
"Boric suspende participación de Chile en foro Prosur". DW (in Spanish). 4 April 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022. https://www.dw.com/es/boric-suspende-participaci%C3%B3n-de-chile-en-foro-prosur/a-61348627 ↩
"Gobierno de Chile envió nota formal para suspender su participación en Prosur" [Government of Chile sent formal notice to suspend its participation in Prosur]. CNN Chile (in Spanish). 3 April 2022. Archived from the original on 10 August 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220810212931/https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:M0qnY_j44GYJ:https://www.cnnchile.com/pais/gobierno-chile-suspeder-participacion-prosur_20220403/pacion-prosur_20220403/&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=se&client=firefox-b-d ↩
"Suriname officieel lid PROSUR". Government of Suriname. https://gov-sr.translate.goog/suriname-officieel-lid-prosur%EF%BF%BC/?_x_tr_sl=nl&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc ↩
"Líderes sul-americanos assinam documento para criação do Prosul". G1 (in Portuguese). 22 March 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019. https://g1.globo.com/mundo/noticia/2019/03/22/lideres-sul-americanos-assinam-documento-para-criacao-do-prosul.ghtml ↩
"South America leaders form Prosur to replace defunct Unasur bloc". DW News. 23 March 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2021. https://www.dw.com/en/south-america-leaders-form-prosur-to-replace-defunct-unasur-bloc/a-48034988 ↩
"Cumbre Presidencial PROSUR". foroprosur.org (in Spanish). 12 December 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2021. https://foroprosur.org/cumbre-presidencial-prosur/ ↩
"Prosur backs Chile's initiative to promote a global treaty on pandemics". gob.cl. 25 February 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2021. https://www.gob.cl/en/news/prosur-backs-chiles-initiative-to-promote-a-global-treaty-on-pandemics/ ↩
"VP Mourão to represent Brazil in Prosur meeting, in Colombia". The Brazilian Report. 25 January 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2022. https://brazilian.report/liveblog/2022/01/25/vp-mourao-prosur-meeting/ ↩
"Peru's FA Min participates in Prosur Presidential Summit". andina.pe. 27 January 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2022. https://andina.pe/agencia/noticia-perus-fa-min-participates-in-prosur-presidential-summit-878709.aspx ↩
"Boric will not travel to Colombia with Piñera: priority is "organizing my administration's team"". en.mercopress.com. 28 December 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2022. https://en.mercopress.com/2021/12/28/boric-will-not-travel-to-colombia-with-pinera-priority-is-organizing-my-administration-s-team ↩
"Además de Mercosur, desde el 27 de enero Paraguay también presidirá Prosur". ultimahora.com (in Spanish). 24 December 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2022. https://www.ultimahora.com/ademas-mercosur-el-27-enero-paraguay-tambien-presidira-prosur-n2978279.html ↩
"El presidente de Paraguay no acudirá a la cumbre del Prosur por covid-19". efe.com (in Spanish). 26 January 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2022. https://www.efe.com/efe/america/politica/el-presidente-de-paraguay-no-acudira-a-la-cumbre-del-prosur-por-covid-19/20000035-4726265 ↩
"Prosur agrees to joint efforts on the environment and vaccines against covid". Explica.co. Explica. 12 December 2020. Retrieved 26 December 2020.[dead link] https://www.explica.co/prosur-agrees-to-joint-efforts-on-the-environment-and-vaccines-against-covid/ ↩
"Informe de Gestión PROSUR" (PDF). foroprosur.org (in Spanish). 11 December 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2022. https://foroprosur.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/PROSUR_Informe_de_Gestion_2020.pdf ↩