On the way back, Brazil enacts the Treaty of Onassur. | Policy

President Lula published a decree enacting the founding treaty of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), this Thursday (6). Despite this, the decree will only come into effect from May 6. The document was published in an additional edition of the Federal Official Gazette.

Unasur is an international body created in 2008, when the countries of the region were mostly ruled by presidents of the left, including Lula (Brazil), Christina Kirchner (Argentina), Hugo Chavez (Venezuela) and Michelle Bachelet (Chile).

Theoretically, the group aims to create integration among member states in order to “eliminate social and economic inequality, achieve social inclusion and citizen participation, strengthen democracy and reduce disparities within the framework of strengthening the sovereignty and independence of states.”

In April 2019, during the government of Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil left the bloc after creating a new forum made up of South American countries, Prosol.

In recent years, Unassur has gone through a process of weakening due to disagreements in the block’s performance. Countries such as Argentina, Colombia and Peru have suspended participation. In 2019, Chile left the bloc and demanded the return of the organization’s headquarters building.

Lula was expressing the return of Brazil to Onasor. On Thursday, government sources stated that the expectation is that the announcement will be official amid the 100-day agendas of the new administration, in the coming weeks.

In addition to Brazil, Argentina is also preparing to return to the group. Lula and Argentine President Alberto Fernandez advocated greater integration of South American countries as well as the strengthening of the Mercosur bloc, which also includes Paraguay and Uruguay.