UNASUR presidents will honor Nestor Kirchner

Guyana, November 25, 2010

In the beginning of the plenary session, the foreign ministers of the twelve countries that integrate UNASUR, paid tribute to Nestor Kirchner, who was general secretary until his death.

All leaders of the South American countries (except Mujica, absent for health reasons) will be present tomorrow for the summit.

“Every president wants to talk to evoke Néstor” said a source from the Argentine delegation.

Among many other tributes, perhaps the greatest is to approve the Democratic Clause, one of the last steps of Kirchner in front of the UNASUR, which will serve as a tool to deter any South American military coup.

Democratic Clause allows to suspend a State member of UNASUR, and apply sanctions if any irregularities are produced. The closest example is what happened to President Rafael Correa in Ecuador, abducted by the police.

It also will be a farewell summit for Brazilian President Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva, who will leave his position in December this year.

Another major topic will be to choose a successor to Nestor Kirchner. The same Lula, Chilean Michelle Bachelet and Colombian Alvaro Uribe, sounded to be the new General Secretary, but decided to decline their application themselves.

Uruguay’s Tabaré Vázquez would be the one to take charge this way.