MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Unasur charter triggers controversy in Uruguayan Congress

Abreu: “Not even the congresses from Brazil or Argentina are considering the proposal”

The Uruguayan Senate, with the votes from the ruling coalition, approved Wednesday the founding charter of the Union of South American Nations, UNASUR, while the opposition rejected in block the initiative describing it as an “ideological integration”.

Opposition Senator and former Foreign Affairs minister Sergio Abreu argued that the initiative was above all “ideological” and with virtually no reference to regional trade “which should be the essence of such an agreement”.

“This treaty is running like fleeing forward, each time there’s a problem it’s a matter of signing a new agreement”, said Abreu who recalled that so far the UNASUR founding charter has only been approved by Venezuela and Bolivia, “not even the congresses from Brazil or Argentina are considering the proposal”.

Communist Senator Eduardo Lorier admitted opposition arguments and said that in effect “there is an ideological component: leaving aside United States is a strong stance”. He added that this mechanism “ensures empires don’t divide us”.

The UNASUR bill has now to be considered by the Uruguayan Lower House.

From its beginning the organization has been marred by controversy, particularly regarding its influence (small countries fear the imposition from larger members) and a dispute over candidates for the chair.

A few months ago a tentative agreement was reached to vote former Argentine president Nestor Kirchner as chairman, but the name does not have the consensus from Uruguay that is embroiled in a bilateral dispute with Argentina over the establishment of pulp mills on a shared river. The dispute includes pickets on the Argentine side blocking international bridges and traffic.

Uruguay position has been that no negotiations on the pulp mills issue are possible until the blocking of bridges and traffic is lifted.