Uruguay Hosts International Experts Discussions on Drugs

International experts will analyze here for five days, starting today, various issues related to drugs.

Specialists participate in three events: the Council on World Drug Problem of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur); Conference Latin America-European Union (Copolad); and CELAC-EU Mechanism.

Today, representatives of Unasur will address common regional position for the Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly (Ungass 2016) and will sign a Letter of Commitment for Drug Observatories project of Unasur members.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, Copolad conference will discuss the challenges of bi-regional cooperation in drug policy.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the Seventeenth High Level Meeting of CELAC-EU Mechanism will review the drug problem in countries of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and in the European Union.

Fonte: http://www.plenglish.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3518251&Itemid=1

Cancilleres de la Unasur buscan diálogo con Estados Unidos

Ernesto Samper calificó de exitosa la reunión que sostuvo este lunes la Comisión de Cancilleres del bloque para buscar canales de comunicación con el Gobierno de Estados Unidos que favorezcan el diálogo directo con Venezuela

Los cancilleres miembros de la Unasur afirmaron este lunes que las sanciones unilaterales de Estados Unidos contra Venezuela afectan la estabilidad de la región, tras reunirse este lunes en Montevideo, Uruguay.

“Queremos evitar que países extraregionales puedan afectar la paz y la estabilidad de nuestros Estados miembros de la Unasur”, destacó Telesur las palabras del canciller ecuatoriano, Ricardo Patiño. 

Las declaraciones de Patiño reiteran la necesidad de defender a Venezuela y los países de la región de cualquier amenaza extranjera que afecte la prosperidad y paz que han mantenido en los últimos años.

Por su parte, la canciller venezolana, Delcy Rodríguez, reiteró el rechazo a la aplicación de medidas unilaterales por parte del gobierno norteamericano y dijo que buscarán los mecanismos de comunicación pertinentes entre Estados Unidos y la Unión de Naciones Suramericanas (Unasur) "a fin de dar un acompañamiento en cuanto a los principios de soberanía y autodeterminación al pueblo de Venezuela por parte de la administración estadounidense”.

Rodríguez afirmó que “se están dando señales claras parecidas y similar e incluso más graves que las que vivimos previos al golpe de Estado en el año 2002”.

El secretario general de la Unasur, Ernesto Samper, en su cuenta en la red social Twitter, calificó de exitosa la reunión que sostuvo este lunes la Comisión de Cancilleres del bloque para "buscar canales de comunicación con el Gobierno de Estados Unidos que favorezcan el diálogo directo con Venezuela".

La comisión especial de esta reunión estuvo compuesta además por la canciller de Colombia, María Ángela Holguín y su homólogo brasileño, Mauro Vieira y obedece al pedido hecho por el presidente de Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, al solicitar la colaboración del organismo multilateral para revisar la situación interna y la relación entre ambos países.

Fonte: http://www.granma.cu/mundo/2015-02-09/cancilleres-de-la-unasur-buscan-dialogo-con-estados-unidos

Regional group raps fresh US bans on Venezuela

Foreign ministers from the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) have censured the United States for escalation of sanctions against Venezuela.

The announcement came after UNASUR Secretary-General Ernesto Samper met foreign ministers Mauro Viera of Brazil, Delcy Rodriguez of Venezuela, and Ricardo Patiño of Ecuador on Monday in Uruguay’s capital, Montevideo.

On February 2, the US State Department imposed visa restrictions and financial sanctions on several Venezuelan officials it accuses of human rights violations.

Patiño told reporters that the meeting focused on impacts of the bans on regional peace.

“The measures to be implemented warrant an immediate reaction from UNASUR and that is why we met and we hope our actions will promote peace, concord and dialogue, and not just among the UNASUR members, but also to prevent countries outside the region from disturbing peace and stability in our countries,” he added.

The participants also agreed to make efforts for the establishment of a direct dialogue between Caracas and Washington.

A few days before the meeting, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had called on UNASUR as well as the Community of Latin American and Caribbean Countries (CELAC) to protect Caracas against “aggression, threats, and statements” by US President Barack Obama, saying they “go against coexistence and respect.”

Samper underlined at the time that all UNASUR members would unanimously reject any attempt to destabilize a member state.

The new bans came less than two months after Washington revoked visas and froze assets of Venezuelan officials deemed responsible by the US for violence and human rights violations following anti-government protests early last year, during which some 40 people died.

Caracas has repeatedly stated that the opposition seeks to launch a coup d’état in the South American country with the backing of Washington.

Fonte: http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/02/10/396927/UNASUR-slams-new-US-bans-on-Venezuela-

Panamanian Civil Society to Host People's Summit

Panama's civil society will organize a meeting of social movements from the continent, parallel to the Summit of the Americas, scheduled for April, the promoters of the forum said on Sunday.

The Panamanian Solidarity Committee of Social Movements toward ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our Americas) called an urgent meeting of its counterparts to call the people's summit.

The latest precedent was in January in Costa Rica, where non-governmental groups met parallel to the Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and analyzed regional social problems.

In the final declaration, the people's summit, as these kinds of events are also known, recognized CELAC as the sovereign space of Latin America and the Caribbean, respectful of plurality and political diversity.

It also reaffirmed that it is in transit to become Latin American and Caribbean integration, as dreamed of by our national heroes, under the respect for the people's free self-determination, sovereign equality, territorial integrity and non-interference in their internal affairs.

One of the first People's Summits was organized in 2005 in Mar del Plata, Argentina, and brought together 12,000 people who traveled to the city where the 4th Summit of the Americas was held with participation of all 34 member countries of the Organization of American States (OAS).

Fonte: http://www.plenglish.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3515171&Itemid=1

Samper Warns about Necessity to End Blockade of Cuba

The general secretary of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), Ernesto Samper, stated that the normalization of relations between Cuba and the United States to resolve pending issues such as blockade and the US military base in Guantanamo is a necessity.

Both governments recently took a historic step when they started talks to reestablished diplomatic relations, but we cannot forget the biggest issues to resolve: the embargo (blockade) and the US military base in Guantanamo, Samper told the Catalan newspaper Gara.

Asked about the role that UNASUR is playing in that process, the former Colombian president stated that it will be limited, but Cuba's return to the unity of American nations is seen with much enthusiasm.

It is a prodigal son who returns home. The difference is that here the son did not leave, but he was expelled, Samper said.

Regarding U.S. President Barack Obama, he said that predictions about his second term were marked by skepticism, because without a majority in the Congress, the worst could be expected.

Fortunately, Obama had the courage to change the trend and do important, progressive things in areas such as health care, immigration and relations with Cuba, which, in his opinion, shows that he is ready to take the plunge, he stated.

About Colombia, Samper expressed confidence in the conclusion of the peace talks being held in Havana, and called for further involvement of UNASUR in the execution of those agreements and the application of rules on truth, justice and reparation.

Fonte: http://www.plenglish.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3515211&Itemid=1

A new era of accommodation

US-Latin American relations face a sea change in the coordinates of regional power, diplomacy and cooperation. The space for a fresh balance of interests has become manifest.

The normative and geopolitical conditions that for decades secured an extraordinarily influential position for the United States and US-sponsored institutions in inter-American governance have changed. Since the early 2000s, ideological polarisation and different approaches to hemispheric governance have increasingly meant that new regional institutions are reclaiming the region and rebuilding inter-American relations, while forcing the Washington-based Organization of American States (OAS) into accommodating to the changing conditions and juggling for influence.

The challenge is not merely one of symbolic politics led by left-leaning presidents railing against US domination. US-Latin American relations face a profound change in the coordinates of regional power, diplomacy and cooperation.

For more than a decade now, Latin American left-leaning governments have been reworking spaces and institutions that govern inter-American affairs. Various efforts have been made to create organisations to act as alternatives to Washington-based institutions. The creation of the Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas (ALBA) in 2004 led by Venezuela and Cuba, the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) in 2008, or the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), should all be seen as manifestations of this shift. All three organisations exclude the US and Canada.

These are potent expressions of the increasingly diversified global engagement of Latin American and Caribbean countries with countries outside the region, particularly China. They attest to the growing diplomatic importance of alternative regional bodies in fostering new compromises, institutions, funding mechanisms, policies and practices within the region in issues such as security, (political) rights, development, energy, infrastructure and security.

The re-politicisation of the inter-American order has piled on the pressure for Washington and Washington-led institutions. The OAS, once a core institutional disciplinary mechanism, is now fighting to remain relevant as new rules are asserted by CELAC and UNASUR. Diplomacy is being played out at the highest stakes. The sixth Summit of the Americas, a process affiliated with the OAS and held in Colombia in April 2012, displayed the US divergence with the region in terms of policy toward Cuba and anti-drug strategy. The second CELAC Summit, celebrated last February in Havana, was attended by the OAS Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza – the first time an OAS Secretary has set foot in Cuba.

And the OAS is losing grounds on signature issue areas. UNASUR has effectively displaced the OAS as a regime stabiliser and has become the preferred institution for conflict resolution and mediation in the region (Bolivia in 2008, Ecuador in 2010, Honduras in 2009, Paraguay in 2012, and Venezuela in 2013). It is engaged in innovative forms of ‘niche diplomacy’, representing South America as a whole within the World Health Organisation and vis-à-vis international pharmaceutical corporations.

For its part, CELAC has entangled the US in a process of ‘unsociable sociability’ with regards to Cuba. The latter gained diplomatic ground as host to the most recent CELAC Summit, one attended not only by the OAS Secretary General but also by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Cuba is now also likely to attend the 2015 Summit of the Americas, hosted by Panama – a condition of other countries´ attendance, despite staunch opposition from US members of Congress. The diplomatic rapprochement between Cuba and the US is a timely step in this direction, saving the US from the embarrassment of no-shows at the event.

The importance of this diplomatic coexistence is to be understood as a recognition of Cuba as an integrated member of the inter-American system, whether Washington en toute likes it or not. The space for new regional policies and a fresh balance of interests has become manifest, as we indicated when furthering the notion of ‘post-hegemonic regionalism’. Our argument then and now is that differences and disagreements are no longer just a question of ‘take it or leave it, my friend’. Post-hegemonic regionalism opens up a new era of accommodation in more equitable ways than the customary hard-line hegemonic diplomacy had ever accepted.

Fonte: https://www.opendemocracy.net/pia-riggirozzi-diana-tussie/new-era-of-accommodation

UNASUR Committee to Examine US Destabilization Efforts

The head of the regional bloc announced the special committee will meet Monday to examine U.S. intervention in Venezuela.

The Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) Ernesto Samper announced that a special a committee will convene next Monday in Montevideo, Uruguay to discuss U.S. destabilization efforts in Venezuela. 

During his comments, Samper issued his support to the Venezuelan government and to president Nicolas Maduro against the interventionist efforts by Washington. 

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The announcement followed a meeting last week between Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and the bloc’s secretary general in which Maduro requested the regional bloc's meditation on the interventionist actions carried out against the country by the United States.

Samper rejected “destabilization” and “all forms of violence” against the government, and said he would bring the evidence provided by President Maduro before UNASUR's Foreign Ministers Council. 

Samper’s statement also coincides with a UNASUR foreign ministers’ summit scheduled to take place next week, where regional leaders will likely address external interference by the United States.

Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño said Friday that Quito will host a meeting in the coming days with the foreign ministers from the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and UNASUR to discuss the situation in Venezuela, and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's claim that the United States is acting to overthrow his government.

"Ecuador, which holds the pro-tempore presidency of CELAC and is part of the group of foreign ministers of UNASUR, has been promoting talks between the Venezuelan government and the opposition in order to strengthen institutions in Venezuela," Patiño said, adding that he wants to avoid destabilization in Venezuela and the region.

Patiño strongly rejected the United States' decision to impose and activate new sanctions against Venezuelan government officials, saying it is an "absolutely illegal action.”

Meanwhile, the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) also issued a statement this week in support of the Government of Venezuela, rejecting the arbitrary and interventionist sanctions that the U.S. government has imposed on the South American nation.

“The Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement categorically rejects the recent decision of the Government of the United States, last February 2, 2015, to expand its unilateral coercive measures against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,” the text reads. 

The document adds, “The Non-Aligned Movement expresses its solidarity and support to the people and Government of Venezuela in opposition to these illegal actions, and urges the government of the United States to desist from such illegal coercive measures which affect the spirit dialogue and political understanding between the two nations.”

Fonte: http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/UNASUR-Committee-to-Examine-US-Destabilization-Efforts--20150207-0011.html