BOLIVIA: South American leaders express concern over slow economic growth

Concern over slow economic growth dominated talks at the Second South American Community of Nations Summit that South American leaders ended on Saturday (December 09) in the valley city of Cochabamba, Bolivia. Most leaders from this region of 370 million people attended the 2-day meeting where host President Evo Morales sought to discuss a future integration of the regional energy policy. "It's a real pleasure for me to overcome our differences, for the good of our people. As presidents and representatives of the South American nations we have a great opportunity to close the open wounds of Latin America, and that is to rely upon our natural resources for that," said Morales. Morales tried to inspire regional unity at the summit, but with two trade blocs wrestling to have the leading voice in South America, Morales' task is a tough one. The Bolivian leader sent a message to fellow leftist Hugo Chavez who in 2006 brought Venezuela into Mercosur but brought it out of the Andean Community. "With all due respects, as I've said before, I think the Andean Community is useless. I'm forced to reiterate it, and so is Mercosur. Venezuela joined Mercosur, that's correct, but Lula (talking to Brazilian President), I told you already, you know it, we either reshape the Mercosur, we either create a whole new Mercosur, or it will soon be over. These (Andean Community and Mercosur) are not appropriate instruments to deal with our current needs," was Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's answer. Chavez however, did resolve some old disputes. "Firstly, I congratulate us all for the unifying spirit that brings us together and allows us to strengthen our union and to overcome misunderstandings and pointless clashes, like the one my friend and colleague Hugo Chavez and I overcame today. As Michelle Bachelet (Chilean President) rightly pointed out, our union should respect our different identities," declared Peruvian President, Alan Garcia. While recent elections in the region have seen a highly-publicized push to the left, many -- such as Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Chile's Michelle Bachelet -- are more middle-of-the-road than Bolivia's Evo Morales, who took the radical step of nationalizing the energy industry this year in an attempt to increase income for the region's poorest country. "Bolivia and Chile believe to be brother nations --also Argentina. I held a bilateral meeting with President Morales to deepen the Chilean-Bolivian dialogue, the dialogue between our people. Our conclusion was that we need to strengthen our approach and find new formulas to make the most out of our countries," claimed Chilean leader, Michelle Bachelet. While anti-U.S. sentiment is strong in the region, Washington maintains an influence in regional trade issues. A U.S.-backed all-Americas trade initiative was scuttled by resistance from agricultural powerhouses Argentina and Brazil, leaving two rival trading blocs. The western countries of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru belong to the Andean Community of Nations, which lost clout this year when Venezuela withdrew claiming the bloc was "dead" after Peru and Colombia signed free trade deals with the United States. Venezuela then joined Mercosur, which also includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, but which has been riddled by spats between its members and has not progressed as far as envisioned when it was launched 12 years ago. Chile, one of the largest and most stable South American economies, does not belong to either group.

ITN Source | December 10, 2006

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