The leaders of the 12-country Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) named former Argentine President Nestor Kirchner as their secretary-general on Tuesday, setting aside their differences in the hope of becoming a regional force for unity, development and democracy building.
The group condemned Arizona’s immigration law as a violation of human rights, issuing a declaration that said the law legitimizes “racist attitudes” in US society and increases “the latent risk of violence due to racial hate, lamentable episodes that have involved South American victims.”
UNASUR was formed in 2008, in part as a counterpoint to the Organization of American States and other regional organizations dominated by Washington, but member nations failed to agree on a leader until now. Plans for a permanent UNASUR headquarters near Ecuador’s capital Quito and a parliament building planned in Cochabamba, Bolivia, remain on the drawing board.
According to UNASUR’s founding treaty, the secretary-general must focus solely on regional matters and not national politics during his two-year term. That may be problematic for Kirchner, the leader of a key Argentine political party who has all but declared himself a candidate to succeed his wife, Cristina Fernandez, in Argentina’s presidential elections next year.
Kirchner will also have to give up his job as a deputy in Argentina’s Congress, either by quitting outright or by asking for a leave of absence, which would allow him to retain his congressional immunity from prosecution.
Argentina’s newspapers, a federal judge and Congress are investigating allegations that ministers and aides to Kirchner and his wife forced Argentine companies to pay bribes to do business in Venezuela.
Kirchner was designated by unanimous consent after leaders praised his experience and stature. Uruguay previously blocked Kirchner’s appointment because Argentina has tacitly supported protesters blocking a key bridge over their shared river border in a campaign against a Uruguayan paper mill.
The three-year blockade continues, despite a World Court ruling Uruguay hoped would lead to a resolution.
Recently elected Uruguayan President Jose Mujica said he supports Kirchner’s appointment unconditionally, even though it will cost him politically.
“We support consensus, and we are going to continue doing so, counting on good faith without conditions,” Mujica said.
He dismissed reports that his support was conditioned on Fernandez forcing the protesters to open the bridge.
Other issues on the UNASUR agenda included discussions about democracy in Honduras and help for earthquake victims in Haiti and Chile.
The UNASUR nations also include Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Surinam and Venezuela.
Most leaders showed up in person for the meeting, including Chile’s new right-wing billionaire president, Sebastian Pinera, and Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez. But Colombia’s outgoing President Alvaro Uribe, who clashed with Chavez and Ecuador’s Rafael Correa at an earlier UNASUR meeting, sent a minister instead.
People with missing teeth might be able to grow new ones, said Japanese dentists, who are testing a pioneering drug they hope will offer an alternative to dentures and implants. Unlike reptiles and fish, which usually replace their fangs on a regular basis, it is widely accepted that humans and most other mammals only grow two sets of teeth. However, hidden underneath our gums are the dormant buds of a third generation, said Katsu Takahashi, head of oral surgery at the Medical Research Institute Kitano Hospital in Osaka, Japan. His team launched clinical trials at Kyoto University Hospital in October, administering an experimental
‘GOOD POLITICS’: He is a ‘pragmatic radical’ and has moderated his rhetoric since the height of his radicalism in 2014, a lecturer in contemporary Islam said Abu Mohammed al-Jolani is the leader of the Islamist alliance that spearheaded an offensive that rebels say brought down Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and ended five decades of Baath Party rule in Syria. Al-Jolani heads Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is rooted in Syria’s branch of al-Qaeda. He is a former extremist who adopted a more moderate posture in order to achieve his goals. Yesterday, as the rebels entered Damascus, he ordered all military forces in the capital not to approach public institutions. Last week, he said the objective of his offensive, which saw city after city fall from government control, was to
IVY LEAGUE GRADUATE: Suspect Luigi Nicholas Mangione, whose grandfather was a self-made real-estate developer and philanthropist, had a life of privilege The man charged with murder in the killing of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare made it clear he was not going to make things easy on authorities, shouting unintelligibly and writhing in the grip of sheriff’s deputies as he was led into court and then objecting to being brought to New York to face trial. The displays of resistance on Tuesday were not expected to significantly delay legal proceedings for Luigi Nicholas Mangione, who was charged in last week’s Manhattan killing of Brian Thompson, the leader of the US’ largest medical insurance company. Little new information has come out about motivation,
‘MONSTROUS CRIME’: The killings were overseen by a powerful gang leader who was convinced his son’s illness was caused by voodoo practitioners, a civil organization said Nearly 200 people in Haiti were killed in brutal weekend violence reportedly orchestrated against voodoo practitioners, with the government on Monday condemning a massacre of “unbearable cruelty.” The killings in the capital, Port-au-Prince, were overseen by a powerful gang leader convinced that his son’s illness was caused by followers of the religion, the civil organization the Committee for Peace and Development (CPD) said. It was the latest act of extreme violence by powerful gangs that control most of the capital in the impoverished Caribbean country mired for decades in political instability, natural disasters and other woes. “He decided to cruelly punish all
RSS