Former Colombian president Ernesto Samper was inaugurated on Thursday as Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations, Unasur, by Surinam's Desire Bouterse who holds the rotating presidency of the group.
Former Colombian president Ernesto Samper was confirmed as Unasur Secretary General following a consultation of the group's member countries presidents. The announcement had been delayed because a Union of South American Nations summit to be held in Montevideo this month was suspended.
South American foreign ministers are scheduled to meet next Friday in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to decide the name of the next Unasur secretary general, according to an official release from the main office in Quito.
Despite the strong statement against US intervention in Syria and the harmonious meeting of Paraguay and Venezuela presidents, the recent Unasur (Union of South American Nations) summit in Suriname was unable to agree on the group’s next Secretary General, a post which is currently held by Venezuela’s Ali Rodriguez.
President Juan Manuel Santos announcement over the weekend that Colombia will look for a cooperation understanding with NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) on their invitation, has irked the so called Latinamerican group of ‘anti-imperialist countries’, at a moment when relations between neighbouring Colombia and Venezuela have hit a new low.
Unasur (Union of South American Nations) wants to closely accompany the democratic restoration process in Paraguay and is not after the reinstatement of removed president Fernando Lugo, said Peruvian Foreign Affairs minister Rafael Roncagliolo.
Big electricity users in Venezuela have been told to cut consumption or face increased charges. Consumers who save energy will be in line for discounts, officials said. The move comes after a series of recent power failures, the most recent last Friday and Saturday when outages affected most of western Venezuela.
The permanent headquarters of Unasur, (Union of South American Nations) in Quito, Ecuador will be named after its first Secretary General, deceased Argentine former president Nestor Kirchner, the government of Ecuador officially announced Wednesday.