MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

South American Union Preamble ready for signing.

The Preamble to the Foundation Act of the South American Union has already been agreed and ten presidents will be present at the December 9 ceremony in Peru when Mercosur, the Community of Andean Nations and Chile will sign the creation of the third world's most important regional block behind the European Union and the North American Free Trade Association.

All members agree that the ceremony in Ayacucho where the last Royal Spanish troops were defeated by South American patriots in 1824 is above all a political gesture since the fundamentals will begin to be addressed in a summit six months later and years of negotiation will pass before the South American Union effectively begins functioning as such.

The South American Union idea was first proposed in a 2000 presidential summit in Brasilia with the purpose of creating a South American space given its geographic proximity, cultural identity and shared values of its member countries.

Brazilian President Lula da Silva and Brazil's diplomacy long term policy have always nurtured the idea of a united continent (under Brazilian leadership) to convene forces and strengthen the region's international standing and negotiation capacity.

However diplomatic sources also point out to Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez as a forceful promoter of the idea and great "bridge builder" among member countries with different ideologies.

Another strong player has been former Argentine president Eduardo Duhalde who as president of Mercosur Committee of Permanent Representatives has crisscrossed the continent several times to garner support for the initiative. Mr. Duhalde favours integrating the three Guyana and further on the Caribbean.

Apparently the Preamble mentions as the main objective unity, as a means to better combat, "inequality, social exclusion, hunger, poverty and insecurity", and at the same time make the region more competitive, develop a common market and one of the last steps, a common currency. The long term South American Union integration agenda contemplates: physical integration, energy, finance, culture and communications; common solutions to shared problems such as poverty, exclusion, indigence and insecurity; institutional strengthening including a Parliament, common macroeconomic and monetary policies, and relating with other blocks and countries.

But not all countries are so enthusiastic about the idea, particularly Chile and Uruguay. "Before creating a new institutional framework, we need specific projects for the integration of the region, for example regarding energy and infrastructure projects such as highways, trains, bi-oceanic corridors and all we're lacking in that area", said Chilean president Ricardo Lagos. Chilean diplomats added that "the region already has the Rio Group, Iberia-American Summit, Mercosur, CAN, plus all their calendar activities".

Uruguay is equally cautious, almost sceptical about the project, although the Ayacucho summit in Peru comes at a transition moment: with an outgoing president and his successor elected and preparing to take office next March.

Current president Jorge Batlle did not hide at any moment during his mandate that he preferred reaching a bilateral trade agreement with United States even if that meant debilitating Mercosur. Similarly incoming president Tabaré Vazquez supported by a strong centre-left coalition described the proposal as "most interesting", but prefers to gather more information from the current administration before a final reply. Anyhow he has been invited to participate in the Cuzco and Ayacucho summits. The other big political party in Uruguay, Partido Nacional has openly rejected the project.