UNASUR Summits

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Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Latin America, Paraguay, Peru, regional integration, Suriname, Unasur, Uruguay, Venezuela

PPT	REUNIÓN	LUGAR Y FECHA	DOCUMENTO PRINCIPAL
Reuniones de Presidentes de América del Sur
– o –	I Reunión de Presidentes de América del Sur	Brasilia (Brasil), 31 de agosto – 1 de septiembre de 2000	Comunicado de Brasilia
	II Reunión de Presidentes de América del Sur	Guayaquil (Ecuador), 26-27 de julio de 2002	Consenso de Guayaquil sobre integración, seguridad e infraestructura
	III Reunión de Presidentes de América del Sur	Cusco (Perú), 7-9 de diciembre de 2004	Declaración de Cusco sobre la Comunidad Sudamericana de Naciones Declaración de Ayacucho
Cumbres de la Comunidad Suramericana de Naciones
Brasil	I Cumbre de la CSN	Brasilia (Brasil), 29-30 de septiembre de 2005	Declaración Presidencial y Agenda Prioritaria
	Reunión extraordinaria (en el marco del MERCOSUR)	Montevideo (Uruguay), 9 de diciembre de 2005	Decisión sobre la creación de la Comisión Estratégica de Reflexión sobre el proceso de integración sudamericano
Bolivia	II Cumbre de la CSN	Cochabamba (Bolivia), 8-9 de diciembre de 2006	Declaración de Cochabamba: colocando la piedra fundamental para la Unión Sudamericana
	Cumbre energética	Isla Margarita (Venezuela), 16-17 de abril de 2007	Declaración de Margarita: construyendo la integración energética del Sur
Cumbres de la Unión de Naciones Suramericanas
Chile (23 de mayo de 2008 – 10 de agosto de 2009)	Reunión extraordinaria	Brasilia (Brasil), 23 de mayo de 2008	Tratado Constitutivo de la Unión de Naciones Suramericanas
	Reunión extraordinaria	Santiago (Chile), 15 de septiembre de 2008	Declaración de La Moneda (situación de Bolivia)
	Reunión extraordinaria	Salvador (Brasil), 16 de diciembre de 2008	Declaración del Consejo de Jefas y Jefes de Estado y de Gobierno
	Reunión extraordinaria (en el marco de la V Cumbre de las Américas)	Puerto España (Trinidad y Tobago), 18 de abril de 2009
Ecuador (10 de agosto de 2009 – 26 de noviembre de 2010)	III Cumbre ordinaria	Quito (Ecuador), 10 de agosto de 2009	Declaración Presidencial de Quito
	Reunión extraordinaria	Bariloche (Argentina), 28 de agosto de 2009	Decisión (bases estadounidenses en Colombia)
	Reunión extraordinaria	Quito (Ecuador), 9 de febrero de 2010	Decisión de Quito: solidaridad de UNASUR con Haití
	Reunión extraordinaria	Los Cardenales (Argentina), 4 de mayo de 2010	Designación del Secretario General de la Unión de Naciones Suramericanas
	Reunión extraordinaria	Palacio de San Martín (Argentina), 1 de octubre de 2010	Declaración de Buenos Aires sobre la situación en Ecuador
Guyana (26 de noviembre de 2010 – 29 de octubre de 2011)	IV Cumbre ordinaria	Georgetown (Guyana), 26 de noviembre de 2010	Declaración de la IV Reunión ordinaria del CJEG
	Reunión extraordinaria	Mar del Plata (Argentina), 3 de diciembre de 2010	Resumen de los debates de la Cumbre Extraordinaria (al margen de la XX Cumbre Iberoamericana) https://is.gd/2T5pqY
	Reunión extraordinaria	26 de julio de 2011	Breve informe sobre la Presidencia de Guyana https://is.gd/e3FBGR
	Reunión extraordinaria	Lima (Perú), 28 de julio de 2011	Declaración: compromiso de la UNASUR contra la desigualdad https://is.gd/HlhWHO
Paraguay (29 de octubre de 2011 – 22 de junio 2012)	V Cumbre ordinaria	Asunción (Paraguay), 29 de octubre de 2011	Declaración de la V Reunión ordinaria del CJEG
	Reunión extraordinaria	Caracas (Venezuela), 3 de diciembre de 2011	Declaración del CJEG https://is.gd/yqEoXq
Perú (29 de junio de 2012 – 30 de agosto de 2013)	Reunión extraordinaria	Mendoza (Argentina), 29 de junio de 2012	Decisión N° 26/2012 (sobre la situación de Paraguay) https://is.gd/MAlypg
	Reunión extraordinaria	Guayaquil (Ecuador), 4 de diciembre de 2014	Informe de la Secretaria General https://is.gd/ffYnHX
	Reunión extraordinaria	Quito (Ecuador), 5 de diciembre de 2014	Declaración (transferencia de la PPT) https://is.gd/d3BNHT
	VI Cumbre ordinaria	Lima (Perú), 30 de noviembre de 2012	Declaración https://is.gd/gI3L2W
Surinam (30 de agosto de 2013 – 4 de diciembre de 2014)	VII Cumbre ordinaria	Paramaribo (Surinam), 30 de agosto de 2013	Declaración https://is.gd/KMlY31
Uruguay (4 de diciembre de 2014 – 23 de abril de 2016)	Reunión extraordinaria	Guayaquil (Ecuador), 4 de diciembre de 2014	Informe de la Secretaria General https://is.gd/ffYnHX
	Reunión extraordinaria	Quito (Ecuador), 5 de diciembre de 2014	Declaración https://is.gd/d3BNHT
Venezuela (23 de abril de 2016 – 21 de abril de 2017)	–	–	–
Argentina (desde el 21 de abril de 2017)	–	–	–

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Hierarchy of States in South America

Tags

Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Intergovernmentalism, Latin America, national power, Paraguay, Peru, regional integration, Suriname, Unasur, Uruguay, Venezuela, WPI

According to intergovernmentalism, the difference of power between states generates a hierarchy where

the dominant member tends to see himself as the guardian of the general interest, and to think of the lesser members as more parochial and selfish. The weaker partners tend in some important matters to take the senior partner’s advice as gospel, and his leadership for granted, for he has the better expertise and the broader horizon (Hoffmann, Stanley. «The european process at atlantic crosspurposes.» Journal of Common Market Studies 3, nº 2, 1964: 86).

In this sense, it is essential to know the structural position that each of the States occupies within the integration mechanism.

In the same way that the world is characterized by being one “in which there is a hierarchy of the strong and the weak; in which the mighty usually try to preserve their eminence, and the weak often want to rise”(Ibid., 86), in South America there is a hierarchy where countries with greater capacities can play a regional role; while the less favored states have limited possibilities of maneuver and are affected by the interests of the most powerful. In order to appreciate more clearly the hierarchy of power in the region, the following graph is presented with the World Power Index (WPI), from year 2000 to 2015, for the twelve States of UNASUR.

Graph.
World Power Index for countries of South America, 2000-2015

Source: (Morales Ruvalcaba 2015a, Morales Ruvalcaba 2015b)

Following the guidelines outlined in the paper “Las promesas del ascenso estructural de los países de América Latina y el Caribe, 1975–2013: logros, desencantos y frustraciones” (Morales Ruvalcaba and Rocha Valencia 2015), it is possible to identify five groups of States in South America:

• First group: Brazil and Argentina. Brazil is a consolidated regional power (Soares de Lima and Hirst 2006, Rocha Valencia and Morales Ruvalcaba 2010), while Argentina is in the process of re-emergence as a regional power (Morales Ruvalcaba 2010).
• Second group: Chile, Colombia and Venezuela. In the South American context, these three countries occupy a high, but secondary, structural position: Chile can be characterized as a secondary semi-peripheral state (Morales Ruvalcaba 2015b, 172-185), that is, a state structurally placed in the lower part of the semi-periphery without capacities to compete with regional powers; while Colombia and Venezuela are two subregional powers (Morales Ruvalcaba, Rocha Valencia and Durán González 2016). The three countries are fundamental partners of Brazil and Argentina in the definition, construction and governance of South America.
• Third group: Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay. Although this group has not achieved a structural position as outstanding as the two previous ones, the three countries that comprise it have been improving substantially their national capacities in the last decade, which makes them relevant actors in the South American context. It should be noted that when they have held the pro tempore presidency of UNASUR, Ecuador (from 10 August 2009 to 26 November 2010), Peru (from 29 June 2012 to 30 August 2013) and Uruguay (from December 2014 to April 17, 2016) have provided a valuable impetus to the integration process.
• Fourth group: Bolivia and Paraguay. These two countries are distinguished, like Bostwana, by their lower economic-military power (material capabilities), but also by their low levels of well-being (semi-material capabilities) and their reduced communicative-cultural power (immaterial capacities). In general terms, Bolivia and Paraguay are countries whose governments face difficulties in attracting public resources and using them efficiently in the creation of infrastructure, not only for their inhabitants but also to receive tourists and international travelers. In the face of lack of development, many people in these countries migrate to the central and semi-peripheral areas in search of better opportunities. All this means that their contribution to the integration process is much smaller than the previous groups.
• Fifth group: Suriname and Guyana. In the lower part of South America’s hierarchy of power, it is possible to find two countries with very small national capacities: Suriname and Guyana. Although both have held the pro tempore presidency (Guyana from 26 November 2010 to 29 October 2011 and Suriname from 30 August 2013 to 4 December 2014), their very low levels of national power clearly limit its leadership, possibilities of maneuver and contributions to UNASUR.

From this perspective, it is precisely Brazil and Argentina that are the cornerstones of South American integration, with a notable preponderance of the former (Schenoni and Actis 2014); but also Chile, Colombia and Venezuela are decisive actors that can either drive the process or, if not, derail it (as it happens at the moment with Caracas).