Brasilia, April 16 (RHC)-- The Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced Monday the Constitutive Treaty of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), formalizing its departure from the organization, just hours after receiving the Pro Tempore Presidency from Bolivia.
The decision was officially communicated to the Government of Ecuador, the depositary country of the agreement, and will take effect in six months. Jair Bolsonaros administration joins his far-right Argentinean and Paraguayan counterparts that initiated the withdrawal procedures last week, as well as Ecuador, which left UNASUR last month.
Earlier, Bolivian Foreign Minister Diego Pary announced that his country officially transferred the pro tempore presidency to Brazil, a position responsible for promoting the meetings and activities of the bloc. However, this will likely suffer a setback as Brazil will probably not carry out this task.
The Bolivian Foreign Minister reminded everyone that at the moment 11 nations are still officially part of the group, as only Colombia has completely abandoned. "It is the member states that are going to decide what is the fate that this body should have, Pary added.
Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay have denounced the Constitutive Treaty and must wait the standby period. Meanwhile, Uruguay, Venezuela, Suriname, Guayana, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru are still part of the group, even though the two latter nations suspended their participation in April 2018.
The regional bloc activities have been paralyzed since 2017 as there wasnt a consensus to choose a new General Secretary to succeed the Colombian Ernesto Samper. The situation aggravated as the right-wing U.S. backed Group of Lima created a competing diplomatic group called ProSur on March 22, 2019, to counteract UNASUR in accordance with U.S.s interventionist agenda against Venezuela and neoliberal policies in the region.
