The former president of Colombia and former secretary general of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) Ernesto Samper advocated this Wednesday for the reactivation of that multilateral organization established in 2004, and of which the former Argentine president, Néstor Kirchner, was its first secretary general.
Samper mentioned “a path to reactivate UNASUR” that “was deactivated by a virus that is doing as much damage as Covid-19, which is that of ideological polarization.”
In this sense, the Colombian politician recalled that currently only four countries make up that organization: Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and Bolivia.
“There were five countries that, ignoring that relations do not exist between governments, but between States, made the decision to withdraw”Samper recalled and then mentioned Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, Brazil and Argentina.
Samper mentioned that the reasons for leaving UNASUR were “ideological”, although he stressed that “in the countries in which their governments changed, they should go towards a dispute settlement mechanism to re-enter.”
He pointed out that in the Argentina “should, perhaps, have a debate in Congress to see if it is the democratic will of the Argentines to resign or remain in UNASUR.”
“It is essential that there be many reasons for a strong integration. In fact, we should expand UNASUR so that any Latin American country can request its integration”he highlighted.
Samper formulated these concepts during his visit to the Argentine Congress, where he met with legislators from the Frente de Todos of both chambers, such as the president of the Foreign Relations Commission of Deputies, Eduardo Valdés, and Neuquén senator Oscar Parrilli.
Senator Ana Ianni from Santa Cruz and her counterpart from Neuquén, Silvia Sapag, were also in the Eva Perón Room of the Legislative Palace, as well as the director of Foreign Relations of the Senate, Franco Metaza.
“Ernesto Samper is one of those responsible for this new Colombia. From his position as president, and as president of Unasur, he greatly helped to build this new reality that arises and that makes us very excited and expectant,” Parrilli praised. when opening the ceremony.
The official senator added that “Personally, it is the same illusion that we had in 2003, 2004 and 2005, when the (government of) Néstor (Kirchner), Lula (Da Silva), Hugo Chávez, Evo (Morales) and (Rafael) Correa began.”
“Today, with Gustavo Petro in Colombia, we here, beyond the difficulties, with Alberto (Fernández) and Cristina (Fernández de Kirchner), and if, as everything seems to indicate, it will be Lula’s return to Brazil, a new stage in Latin America”, celebrated Parrilli.
Samper held an audience on Tuesday with the Argentine vice president in the office that Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has on the first floor of the Senate.
The former president governed Colombia between August 7, 1994 and August 7, 1998 and in July 2014 he was elected secretary general of Unasur to lead that international organization until January 31, 2019.
Among the positions he held in his country are that of councilor for Bogotá, senator, deputy for Cundinamarca, ambassador of Colombia in Spain and Minister of Development.
Samper arrived in Buenos Aires to participate this Thursday at the Kirchner Cultural Center (CCK) in the seminar “Latin America and the Caribbean, the future of integration: Unity in Diversity”, in which leaders, academic experts and figures from the region will participate, and which will be headed by President Alberto Fernández.
Meeting with Cafiero
I received @ernestosamperpwho from the @PPT_CELAC We invite you to participate in the International Seminar #UnityInDiversity.
Deepening regional integration is central to facing the challenges of the complex global scenario. pic.twitter.com/Ykq7wLK2YQ
– Santiago Cafiero (@SantiagoCafiero) August 17, 2022
