Beijing, 31 May (Xinhua) -- Eleven heads of state and one representative of all 12 countries in South America gathered in Brazil on 30 May local time to exchange views on how to strengthen regional cooperation and promote South American integration, and reached the Brasilia Consensus. The host country, Brazilian President Lula, called for the revival of the Union of South American Nations, the creation of a common South American currency, and the independence on the dollar. "We have no time to waste and South America should once again embark on the path of unity."
The summit showcased the unity of South America that had been lost for years, and was held against an important backdrop to the resurgence of the Latin American left. In last year's elections in Latin American countries, Colombia's left-wing political parties won, and the country's traditional political landscape underwent a historic transformation; In the Brazilian election, Lula, as an important soul of the Latin American left, became president again; In addition, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Peru and other large Latin American countries are all left-wing parties in power. The overall change in the political climate has laid the political foundation and provided an important impetus for regional unity and self-strengthening.
Brazilian President Lula attends a press conference at the Rosary Palace in Buenos Aires, Argentina, January 23. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Martin Sabara)
At present, the spillover effects of the new crown epidemic and the Ukraine crisis are superimposed, the economic growth in Latin America is weak, some countries have fallen into recession, and improving the economy and people's livelihood is the common demand of the Latin American people. Judging from the messages conveyed by the heads of state of this summit, vigorously developing the economy and expanding employment at the domestic level, promoting the integration process at the regional level, achieving coordinated regional development, expanding international economic and trade cooperation at the global level, and finding resources for expanding exports and attracting investment have gradually become an important policy consensus of Latin American leaders to transcend ideology and seek independent development.
An important pain point restricting Latin America's development is that the degree of market integration is not high, the process of regional integration is slow, it is difficult for countries to give play to their comparative advantages, and it is difficult to support sustained industrialization by relying on the scale effect of their own economies. For a long time, Latin American countries have been committed to promoting regional integration processes, and the integration design of the Common Market of the South, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and the Pacific Alliance are all efforts to this end. Unfortunately, this process is often interrupted by the pendulum effect of economic or political cycles. Latin American countries have different resource advantages and great potential for regional integration. At this summit, Lula specifically called for the revival of the Union of South American Nations and the creation of a common South American currency. The Brasilia Consensus, signed at the summit, sets an "effective South American free trade area" as a common development goal. All parties decided to re-establish regional integration as an important starting point for economic recovery, sending a strong signal to the outside world to unite and promote coordinated regional development.
No country can develop in isolation from the realities of international relations, especially in Latin America, known as the "backyard of the United States." Since the introduction of the Monroe Doctrine, the United States has been the most important external control force in Latin American history. In the design of the US national strategy, Latin America has long been locked at the low end of the industrial chain value chain, and can only be a provider of resources, a "dumping ground" for commodities and a "gold pool" for investment. In addition to direct military intervention, continuous cultural infiltration, and the export of so-called "democratic" and "market" oriented neoliberal institutional values by the United States to control and intervene in Latin American countries. The director behind the so-called "electoral democracy" to achieve power change and the so-called "free market" to control the economic lifeline is precisely the powerful neighbor of the North behind the repeated political turmoil and economic crisis in Latin American history.
This is the White House photographed in Washington, USA, on August 4, 2022. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Jie
At this summit, the leaders of South American countries criticized the long-term interventionist and hegemonic behavior of the United States in Latin America, showing a strong diplomatic will to be independent and autonomous. The Brasilia Consensus, signed by the summit, states that South American leaders regard "the values of the rule of law, institutional stability, sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs" as the basic principles of regional progress. "Institutional stability" and "the principles of sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs" will understand what anyone who knows the history of relations between Latin America and the United States means. At the summit, Lula not only put forward the proposal to create a common currency and get rid of dependence on the dollar system, but also told the media after talks with Venezuelan President Maduro, who came to the meeting, that the United States imposed sanctions on Venezuela, "This is the fault of the United States, the United States has carried out an extremely exaggerated blockade, which is worse than war."
In today's world, with the in-depth development of multipolarization and globalization, the rise of emerging markets and developing countries, the pursuit of fair, reciprocal and sustainable development has become a common voice. South American leaders are also looking to broader markets, especially those of the South. Before the summit, Lula successfully visited China in April, and the two countries signed a total of 15 cooperation documents in the fields of poverty reduction, scientific and technological innovation, aerospace, information and communication, and finance. During his visit, Lula noted that emerging countries have the power to make a difference in the world, that is, a more sustainable world that reduces poverty and inequality. At the summit, Maduro also showed a strong willingness to cooperate with the BRICS: the BRICS countries are attracting those who seek peace and cooperation, and Venezuela "wants to be part of the BRICS in an appropriate way."
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks at the Sixth Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (LACS) in Mexico City, Mexico, September 18, 2021. Xinhua News Agency (Photo courtesy of Venezuelan News Agency)
Until the eve of World War II, the Latin American economy still relied on the export of single resource products, and the intervention and control of Western capital such as the United States greatly limited the economic transformation space of Latin American countries. The world is facing major changes unprecedented in a century, and in the face of new historical opportunities, Latin American countries are striving to jump out of the "vicious circle of historical fate" through independence and self-improvement. As Santoro, head of the Department of International Relations at the State University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, said, "A new global order is being conceived, and Latin America is seriously considering how to integrate into this new world with more political multipolarity and more diverse civilizations, and how to achieve independent development in the new global order."