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.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to