President Piñera praises progress made towards integration in South America after meeting of Heads of State in Santiago

President Sebastián Piñera highlighted on Friday the progress that had been made in a meeting with South American Presidents and representatives at La Moneda Palace, stressing the importance of cooperation, and stating that regional unity is fundamental to achieving growth, progress and development.

"Today has been a good day for collaboration, dialogue, understanding and integration in South America. Five years have passed since the Presidents have had the opportunity to come together to address today’s problems and take on the challenges of the future," explained President Piñera, who was accompanied by the other Presidents of the region following the reading of the Santiago Declaration.

The Chilean president stressed, "today we have started the process of setting up PROSUR, which will be a forum, a place of coming together, of dialogue, collaboration, and coordination and also a place to address and solve problems and assume shared opportunities."

"PROSUR will be an open forum for all South American countries. It will be a forum free from ideologies that will respect diversity and the differences that each country decides on when it elects its governments. It will be a forum without excessive bureaucracy and a pragmatic space designed to seek results," he explained.

On Friday Chile assumed the Pro Tempore Presidency of this process for the next 12 months before passing it on to Paraguay.

The complete text of the Santiago Declaration as follows:

Presidential Declaration on the Renovation and Strengthening of the Integration of South America

The Heads of State of the Argentine Republic, the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Republic of Chile, the Republic of Colombia, the Republic of Ecuador, the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, the Republic of Paraguay and the Republic of Peru, gathered in Santiago, Chile, on the 22nd of March 2019:

Aware that the new challenges that we must face require us more than ever to work together with the purpose of renewing and strengthening the integration process of the nations of South America, within a flexible institutional framework that allows the challenges encountered in today's world to be addressed efficiently and effectively,

We reaffirm that integration is a bridge towards the strengthening of multilateralism and the full validity of international law, which are fundamental instruments to efficiently insert ourselves within the fourth industrial revolution and the knowledge and information society,

Based on a rich common history, of shared struggle for the independence of our peoples, we are determined to join forces and wills to resolve the problems of the present and to address the future challenges that concern us all,

We underline our commitment to consolidate and deepen sustainable development, eradicate poverty in all its forms and dimensions, achieve greater equality of opportunities and allow our citizens to deploy their talents, capacity for innovation and entrepreneurship,

We reaffirm that the process of building a space for coordination, cooperation and regional integration must respect the territorial integrity of the States, international law and security, and be committed to the preservation of South America as a Zone of Peace,

We recognize the contributions made by previous South American integration processes, as well as the need to preserve their heritage, within the framework of a new space of integration that is more efficient, pragmatic and with a simple structure that allows their achievements to be consolidated and to be developed without duplicating efforts, towards a more integrated region,

We express our thanks to President Sebastián Piñera for his hospitality and initiative in convening this Meeting of South American Presidents in order to foster South American integration,

WE DECLARE:

1. Our desire to build and consolidate a regional space of coordination and cooperation, without exclusions, to move towards a more effective integration that allows us to contribute to the growth, progress and development of the countries of South America.

2. Our recognition of the proposal to create a space for South American dialogue and collaboration, the Forum for the Progress of South America (PROSUR), and we instruct our Ministers of Foreign Affairs to deepen the dialogue in accordance with the terms of this Declaration.

3. That this space should be gradually implemented, have a flexible structure, be agile, inexpensive, with clear operating rules and an efficient decision-making mechanism that allows South America to advance in specific understandings and

integration programs based on the common interests of the States and according to their own national circumstances.

4. That this space will address, in a flexible manner and with priority, issues of integration in the areas of infrastructure, energy, health, defense, security and combating crime, and the prevention and management of natural disasters.

5. That the essential requirements to participate in this space will be the full enjoyment of democracy, of the respective constitutional orders, respect for the principle of separation of the State Powers, and the promotion, protection, respect and guarantee of human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the States, with respect to international law.

6. That the Republic of Chile will hold the Pro Tempore Presidency of this process during the next 12 months, which will then be transferred to the Republic of Paraguay.

MAURICIO MACRI

PRESIDENT OF THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC

JAIR MESSIAS BOLSONARO

PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERATIVE REPUBLIC OF BRAZIL

SEBASTIÁN PIÑERA ECHENIQUE

PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF CHILE

IVÁN DUQUE MÁRQUEZ

PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA

LENÍN MORENO GARCÉS

PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ECUADOR

GEORGE WILFRED TALBOT

AMBASSADOR OF THE COOPERATIVE REPUBLIC OF GUYANA

MARIO ABDO BENÍTEZ

PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF PARAGUAY

MARTÍN ALBERTO VIZCARRA CORNEJO

PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF PERU