MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Unasur fearful of overlapping with the Andean Pact and Mercosur

Nestor Kirchner (R) next to Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa

The Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) Secretary General Néstor Kirchner said on Tuesday he hopes for the block to “create profound policies in the region” but without overlapping on other regional organizations such as Mercosur.

The former Argentine president met with Ecuadorean and UNASUR pro-tempore President Rafael Correa in Guayaquil to discuss issues classified as “a priority for the regional block”.

Among those issues addressed according to Ecuadorean Foreign Affairs minister Ricardo Patiño are the institutional development of Unasur and the ratification of its constitution charter, which still has to be approved by the legislatives of several member countries to become effective.

“We’ve been in contact with lawmakers from Chile and Colombia, and Mr. Kirchner is scheduled to travel to Uruguay, Brazil and Surinam, as he recently did to Paraguay. If we manage that three of these counties vote for the chart, the Unasur treaty will become in full force”, pointed out Patiño who also revealed that the blue prints for Unasur headquarters are ready.

Unasur Secretariat and Councils are scheduled to be built in Quito, Ecuador’s capital.

Patiño said that another point considered was to have independent nominees working for Unasur presidency and the different councils “since currently the task falls on the ministers of the country that holds the pro-tempore chair of the group”.

Before formally starting his work meeting with the pro-tempore UNASUR team, the former Argentine president underlined that the new regional group must avoid contradicting with the already existent Andean Pact or the Mercosur.

Kirchner travelled to Guayaquil, Ecuador, to embark on a tight agenda that included a meeting with Ecuador President Rafael Correa, as well a several activities to strengthen his role in the block. Advisors Rafael Folonier and Juan Manuel Abal Medina joined Kirchner in his trip.

Kirchner’s meeting with Patiño early in the morning was to get in touch on how the organization works and gather as much information as possible.