A New South American Integration Roadmap in 120 Days: Lula

On Tuesday, Brazilian President Lula da Silva inaugurated a high-level summit in Brasilia where 12 South American countries will discuss new ways to resume regional integration.

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This event brings together presidents Alberto Fernandez (Argentina), Luis Arce (Bolivia), Gabriel Boric (Chile), Gustavo Petro (Colombia), Guillermo Lasso (Ecuador), Irfaan Ali (Guyana), Mario Abdo (Paraguay), Chan Santokhi (Suriname), Luis Lacalle (Uruguay), and Nicolas Maduro (Venezuela). Peru is represented by the Ministers Council President Alberto Otarola.

"It is with great joy that I receive my friends, the South American presidents... What unites us today is a sense of urgency with our region," Lula da Silva said during an inaugural speech in which he proposed to create a new roadmap for South American integration in 120 days.

"A politically organized, strong, and secure South America will expand our possibilities of internationally affirming a true Latin American and Caribbean identity," he stressed.

After noting that South American countries have remained relatively isolated from each other since the formation of republics 200 years ago, the Brazilian president invited attendees to turn South American integration into an effective political reality.

"When Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso convened the first presidential summit in 2000, the different political and ideological positions existing at the time did not prevent our countries from embracing the idea of a shared future and building mutual trust," he said.

"The elements uniting us are above ideological differences. From Patagonia and the Atacama to the Amazon, from the Cerrado and the Andes to the Caribbean, we are a vast continent bathed by two oceans."

The Brazilian President then recalled that South American integration depends on strengthening a feeling of belonging to the same community, since "we have a history of resistance, forged in the struggles for independence and against dictatorships."

Lula stressed that South America needs to approach the main spaces of global governance together. Among them, for example, are the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum, the G20, the BRICS, and the COP 30 on climate.

"The South American countries' combined GDP should reach US$4 trillion this year. Together we are the world's fifth largest economy and have a significant consumer market with a population of almost 450 million," he concluded.