South American Community Of Nations Article Index for
South American
Website Links For
South American
 

Information About

South American Community Of Nations




-->
The that will unite two existing Free-trade organizations— Mercosur and the Andean Community —eliminating tariffs for ''non-sensitive products'' by 2014 and ''sensitive products'' by 2019 . The headquarters of this new organization will be in Lima while the South American Bank will be in Brasilia according to the agreements during the meetings. Complete integration between the Andean Community and Mercosur into the South American Community Of Nations is expected by 2007 .

At the Third South American Summit , on 8 December 2004 , presidents or representatives from twelve South America n nations signed the '' Cuzco Declaration '', a two-page statement of intent, announcing the foundation of the South American Community. Panama attended the signing ceremony as observer.

Leaders announced their intention to model the new community after the European Union , including a common currency, parliament, and passport. According to Allan Wagner , Secretary General of the Andean Community, a complete union like that of the EU should be possible by 2019 .

The mechanics of the new entity should come out at the First South American Community Of Nations Heads Of State Summit , to be held in Brasilia , in September 29 - 30 2005 . A constitution is also expected to be drafted in 2005 . The Second Summit will be held in Bolivia. No new institutions will be created in the first phase, so as not to increase bureaucracy, and the community will use the existing institutions belonging to the previous trade blocs.


ORIGINS

Simón Bolívar —known as ''El Libertador'' ("The Liberator"), directly responsible for the independence of Venezuela , Colombia , Ecuador , Peru , and Bolivia in the early years of the 19th Century , and honored with statues in the capital cities of practically every American nation—had the goal of creating a Federation of Spanish America n nations to ensure prosperity and security after independence. Bolívar never achieved this goal, and died an unpopular figure because of his heavy-handed attempts to establish strong central governments in the nations he led to independence.


PARTICIPATING NATIONS


The 12 community members:

  • Members of the Andean Community (CAN)¹:

  • --- (will start the process of joining Mercosur in 2006)

  • ---

  • ---

  • ---


  • Members of Mercosur ²:

  • ---

  • ---

  • ---

  • ---

  • --- (in the process of leaving CAN and joining Mercosur)


  • Other countries:

  • ---¹

  • ---³

  • ---³


¹ These countries are also considered to be associate members of Mercosur

² These countries are also considered to be associate members of the Andean Community.

³ Guyana and Suriname will not immediately join the community. They are currently members of CARICOM and are to enter its common market in 2005. It is unknown how simultaneous CSN and CARICOM membership will be accomplished.

The only South American area not participating is French Guiana which is a '' Département D'outre-mer '' of France and is therefore part of the European Union .

In addition to these twelve states, there are two observer states:
  • (Mexico is already part of the NAFTA bloc)




COMPARISON WITH OTHER REGIONAL BLOCS



QUOTES

''We are here to make Simón Bolívar's dream real. {Link without Title} Sooner, rather than later, we shall have a single currency, a single passport... Sooner, rather than later, we shall have a parliament with directly elected representatives for this new nation that we are creating today.'' — Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo , 8 December 2004 .


''Step by step CAN and Mercosur will converge becoming the South American Community, but gradually disappearing at the same time. But in spite of the haste there’s no rush, because we could end with an empty declaration. {Link without Title} My idea is that in a few months time CAN should be known as South American Community-CAN and Mercosur, South American Community MS, so we have time to get in touch with the new initials.'' —Former Argentine president Eduardo Duhalde , president of the Mercosur Representatives Committee.



NAME CHANGE PROPOSAL

On : ''União Sul-Americana''); nevertheless, many members stated to him that that proposal had already been rejected to prevent misinformation related to its acronym (U.S.A.).


SEE ALSO



EXTERNAL LINKS