"It seemed like something impossible to accomplish because here, in South America, we were made to believe that we wouldn't be successful in anything, that we are poor, that we fight amongst ourselves and must depend on the United States and the European Union," he asserted.
South American heads of state gathered last Friday, May 23, in the Brazilian capital Brasília for an extraordinary Unasur summit. The legal aspect had already been taken care of by diplomats from the countries involved, and the last details were defined in May.
In his weekly radio show "Breakfast with the President," Lula underscored the fact that the treaty establishing the Unasur is going to make it easier to negotiate with other blocs, as well as enable the construction of railways, highways, bridges, and transmission lines.
"I believe that this is the realization of a dream. However, we are still going to have to work hard in order to consolidate the practical aspects."
Regarding the skepticism of some South American countries and the possibility of Unasur never coming to fruition, Lula showed optimism and stated that South America has gone through a process of "extraordinary evolution". To him, Brazil must invest in countries such as Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia – nations considered to be "economically weaker".
"We have an obligation to help them, because the stronger the South American countries are from an economic point of view, the more we will enjoy peace, calm, democracy, trade, companies, jobs, income and development."
With regard to the Brazilian proposal for the creation of a South American National Defense Council – which was overruled during the summit of heads of state -, Lula believes that, should Brazil be able to "better elaborate the proposal and eliminate some convergences" during the next 90 days, then the idea may be approved.
"The truth is, of the twelve countries, only Colombia made an objection. Afterwards, I spoke to president Uribe [of Colombia]. We are going to talk again. I will travel to Colombia on July 20th, and I believe that we can set things straight."
The proposal is going to be analyzed over the next 90 days by a Unasur workgroup. The initiative was announced by the president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, during a press conference at the Itamaraty Palace, the Brazilian Foreign ministry.
ABr