Forum for the Progress and Integration of South America

The Forum for the Progress and Integration of South America (Spanish: Foro para el Progreso e integración de América del Sur, PROSUR; Portuguese: Fórum para o Progresso e Desenvolvimento da América do Sul, PROSUL, Dutch: Forum voor de vooruitgang en integratie van Zuid-Amerika, FVIZA) is an initiative by Sebastián Piñera and Iván Duque, for the creation of an integration body to replace the Union of South American Nations.

Forum for the Progress and Integration of South America
  • Spanish:Foro para el Progreso e integración de América del Sur
    Portuguese:Fórum para o Progresso e Desenvolvimento da América do Sul
    Dutch:Forum voor de vooruitgang en integratie van Zuid-Amerika
Logo
  Member states
  Suspended member states
Administrative centerRotational: currently Asunción, Paraguay
Official languages
Demonym(s)South American
TypeInternational organization
Membership
9 members[1]
Leaders
• President pro tempore
Mario Abdo Benítez
EstablishmentFormation
• Santiago Declaration
22 March 2019[2]
Website
foroprosur.org
A clickable Euler diagram showing the relationships between various multinational organisations in the Americas.v • d • e

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".[3] 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".[4]

It has been characterised as a right-wing response to the left-wing UNASUR.[5][6]

On April 3, 2022, the new president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, announced that the country was suspending its participation in the alliance.[7][8] Suriname joined the alliance in 2022.[9]

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.[10] Representatives from Venezuela were not invited to the summit in Santiago.[11]

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.[12][13]

The third PROSUR summit was held in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia on 26-27 January of 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.[14][15] 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.[16] 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.[17][18]

Year # Date Place Host
2019 1st 22 March Santiago, Chile Sebastian Piñera
2020 2nd[19] 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 1st[20] 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 Mario Abdo Benítez.

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 Incumbent

See also

References
  1. "PAÍSES MIEMBROS". Forum for the Progress and Integration of South America.
  2. Patricia Luna (22 March 2019). "South American leaders launch new bloc to replace Unasur". The Star. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  3. República, Presidencia de la. "Texto de la declaración del Presidente Duque sobre Prosur en entrevista con 'Oye Cali'" (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  4. "South American presidents announce creation of new regional bloc". Reuters. 22 March 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  5. "Why Prosur is not the way to unite South America". The Economist. 21 March 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  6. "Bolsonaro says Brazil owes world nothing on environment". Business Standard. Agence France-Presse. 24 March 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  7. "Boric suspende participación de Chile en foro Prosur". DW (in Spanish). 4 April 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  8. "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.
  9. "Suriname officieel lid PROSUR". Government of Suriname.
  10. "Líderes sul-americanos assinam documento para criação do Prosul". G1 (in Portuguese). 22 March 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  11. "South America leaders form Prosur to replace defunct Unasur bloc". DW News. 23 March 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  12. "Cumbre Presidencial PROSUR". foroprosur.org (in Spanish). 12 December 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  13. "Prosur backs Chile's initiative to promote a global treaty on pandemics". gob.cl. 25 February 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  14. "VP Mourão to represent Brazil in Prosur meeting, in Colombia". The Brazilian Report. 25 January 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  15. "Peru's FA Min participates in Prosur Presidential Summit". andina.pe. 27 January 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  16. "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.
  17. "Además de Mercosur, desde el 27 de enero Paraguay también presidirá Prosur". ultimahora.com (in Spanish). 24 December 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  18. "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.
  19. "Prosur agrees to joint efforts on the environment and vaccines against covid". Explica.co. Explica. 12 December 2020. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  20. "Informe de Gestión PROSUR" (PDF). foroprosur.org (in Spanish). 11 December 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2022.


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