Translation of the Unasur declaration on Ecuador published this morning

Directly translated from this copy of the communique by this author.

The Heads of State and government of Unasur, meeting in the San Martín Palace, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1 October 2010:

1) Reaffirm their strong commitment to the preservation of democratic institutionality, the State, constitutional order, social peace and the unrestricted respect for human rights, essential conditions for the process of regional integration.

2) Strongly condemn the attempted coup d'etat and subsequent holding of President Rafael Correa Delgado, as occurred in the sister Republic of Ecuador on September 30.

3) Celebrate the liberation of President Correa Delgado as well as the quick return to institutional and democratic normality in the sister Republic. We express the need that those responsible for the coupmongering actions be judged and condemned. In this context we reiterate the fullest and most decided support for the constitutional government and highlight the role of those institutions in the re-establishment of constitutional order.

4) Affirm that our respective governments energetically reject and do not tolerate under any circumstance any new challenge to the institutional authority nor any attempted coup against the civil power elected legitimately and warn that in the case of new outbreaks again the constitutional order will adopt concrete and immediate measures  such as the closure of borders, suspension of commerce, suspecnsion of air traffic, suspension of energy provision, services and other.

5) Decide that their chancellors will travel today to the city of Quito to express their full support for the constitutional President of the Republic of Ecuador, Rafael Correa Delgado, and for the people of Ecuador, indispensible participants in the full restauration of democratic institutionality in that country.

6) Agree to adopt in the fourth ordinary summit meeting of Heads of State and government of Unasur, to take place on 26 November in Guyana, an additional protocol to the constituent treaty of Unasur that establishes the democratic clause.

UPDATE: This comes to mind. 

Understatement of the Day Award goes to....

...Michael Warren of AP for the following paragraph from his report on the UNASUR Bariloche summit today.

Latin American leaders tend to be suspicious of foreign militaries in a region where U.S.-backed dictatorships killed and tortured their own citizens only decades ago. The unresolved coup in Honduras — by a military with close U.S. ties and training — worries them as well.

Though fair's fair, the report is a pretty good, balanced view of what went on today. And yes, I did say AP back there.

The UNASUR Bariloche Summit: What you need to know

UNASUR in Ecuador

Heads of state from all round the region are making their way over to Quito, Ecuador right now for the UNASUR summit which will see Ecuador take the baton and get its turn as temporary president of the regional group.

However Colombia's not going to the party. In the weird, whacked out world of Uribe it makes sense to fly all over the place last week on a lightning tour of the region, visiting Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil, but not go and see exactly the same people in one place at the meeting you were invited to attend. This is, of course, because Colombia is trying its very hardest to piss off Ecuador, other major neighbour Venezuela and the entire region by inviting US troops to set up shop in the country.

Even weirder are the statements out of Colombia from people like Ex defence Minister Santos (and presidential candidate, Lord help us) who says that giving Ecuador the presidency of UNASUR will kill the union. Errr, no, that's Colombia's doing, dumbass. The only country that protests the meeting is Colombia. The single regional country trying to drive a wedge into LatAm solidarity? Colombia. Country with by far the worst human rights record in the region? Colombia. Only regional country that invites Honduran usurpers for talks? Colombia. Single largest source of drugs? Colombia. I could continue.

I mean, are they seriously expecting the rest of LatAm to rally around them?

Bolivia round-up

An arrested Leopoldo Fernández gets on a plane for La Paz today
(photo shamelessly stolen from blogsite "down south" doing on-the-spot marvels from Santa Cruz)

Pando chief Leopoldo "nothing to do with me, honest" Fernández is arrested and shipped out to La Paz. Nice on the spot blogging from Down South, who's in Santa Cruz right now and took photos of the local racists actually rallying to support the mass murderer when news of his arrest got out. Impressive stuff. Go see his blog, that's an order.

Abiding in Bolivia knocks one straight out the park with this post that goes into the details of how it all happened with plenty of source material on hand, too. Essential reading for those who want to understand how all this came to pass.

On a personal note, I've been pleasantly surprised about the number of people accessing last night's post that translated The Moneda Declaration. It seems there are still people out there who care for things like rule of law, decency and true democracy; good for you.

Even the LatAm right wing is disgusted by the Santa Cruz fascists. This is what President Alvaro Uribe had to say after last night's historic declaration. I have to say that Uribe has gone up in my estimation in the 72 hours.

Uribe sez:"(I support the gov't of Evo Morales) in the same way that Colombia always asks to condemn the terrorist violence that affects our country. It is very important that all South American countries come together to defend constitutional order and democracy in Bolivia that is made flesh in its President Evo Morales, who has just been ratified by a wide margin in an unquestionable democratic process."

Otto sez; w00t for Alvaro over that one

The thing to take away from the Unasur declaration

The Presidents of Unasur

The declaration hammered out by the Unasur heads of state last night is, I believe, one of those moments in history that is not recognized as such until much later (text in English and Spanish linked here). For sure the resolution was about the current unrest in Bolivia, but after reading it through several times I've been struck by its recognition of Latin America's turbulent past and the declaration's mature, forward-looking tone. What it's really saying to the world is something far more important than "hey, Santa Cruz, stop being jerks" (vitally important though that is). The Moneda Declaration says to the world

WE

DO

NOT

NEED

YOUR

HELP

ANY

MORE

For some, that outside help (from Asia, the USA, Europe, Soviet-era Russia, wherever) was welcomed, for others it was rejected. But it was always necessary on one level or another. However times have changed, and the Moneda Declaration may well be the moment historians use to mark that change. That change includes, "If you wish to help, we thank you. We will decide whether we want it or not, because now we do not need it."

Deep down it's about respect. From the end of the dictatorship era until now, Latin Americans have learned to respect democracy and respect themselves. Today they can look the rest of the world in the eye and say, "It's time you people respected us."

I warmly applaud the Moneda Declaration of September 15th 2008 and I am proud to live in South America at this time.

The Otto Declaration to the Bolivia autonomy rebels

He looked in the mirror
and said, "¿Y que quiere decir 'RESOL'?"

Dear Scum,

The game is up. You have caused your own little brand of havoc for a few weeks, but you are now isolated and friendless. Despite the image you try to project of having split Bolivia down the middle, it is in fact a little over 300,000 people in one single city in Bolivia that is making most of the noise (and here are the numbers to prove it).

With the Unasur declaration tonight, you are getting the biggest and luckiest chance of your lives to get out of this unscathed. The leaders of all major South American countries have really been quite lenient. This time around they've said "stop doing that", and not "stop doing that or else we'll.......". If you're really, really stupid you'll continue to poke Brazil with a pointy stick, turn off their gas supply and then find out what the biggest country in the region really can do with the 2.5% of its GDP it uses for military and defence spending.

You now have a clear choice:

Choice one) Stop your temper tantrum, take that mask of self importance off, and come crawling to the negotiating table. There you'll find a President who will give you a few concessions with which you can try and claim victory.

Choice two) Be squashed like flies. You think the USA will come running to the rescue now? You expect them to take on the whole continent in order to save your scrawny asses? Not even dubya is that stupid.

Y'know, there's a little corner of me that wants you to try and tough this out. It will cause more bloodshed for sure, but then the world will be rid of you pondslime once and for all. But in the end, I'll go for peace and compromise. However, I'm surely looking forward to the moment the new constitution takes away all but 10,000 hectares from Branco (because all this freedom BS is a front, and that's been the real reason all along).

Love and Kisses,

Otto

Unasur: The Official "Moneda Declaration" in full (English translation and Spanish original)

Here follows my English translation of the full Moneda Declaration that was unanimously agreed upon by the member states of Unasur tonight. The Spanish original is copied underneath. I believe my translation is accurate but take full responsibility for any mistakes if found by eagle eyes out there.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Santiago de Chile, September 15 2008

The heads of state and the government of Unasur, meeting in the Palace of the Moneda, Santiago de Chile, September 15 2008, with the purpose of considering the situation in the Republic of Bolivia and remembering the tragic episodes 35 years ago in this very place that shocked all humanity:

Considering the the constitutive treaty of Unasur, signed in Brasilia on May 23rd 2008, enshrines the principles of unrestricted respect for sovereignty, of the non-interference in internal affairs, of the integrity and inviolbility of territory, of democracy and its institutions and the unrestricted respect of human rights;

Faced with the grave occurances reported in the sister Republic of Bolivia, and in favour of the strengthening of political dialogue and cooperation for the strengthening of citizen's security, the countries that make up Unasur express:

1. Their fullest and decided support for the constitutional government of President Evo Morales, whose mandate was ratified by a wide margin in the recent referendum.

2. They warn that its respective governments energetically reject and do not recognize any situation that implies an intent of civil coup d'etat, the rupture of institutional order, or that compromises the territorial integrity of the Republic of Bolivia

3. Consequent to the above, and in consideration of the grave situation that affects the sister Republic of Bolivia, they condemn the attack on government installations and public forces by groups that look for the destabilization of Bolivia's democracy, and demand the prompt return of those installations as condition for the start of the dialogue process.

4. At the same time, they call for all political and social actors involved to take the necessary measures so that acts of violence, intimidation, attacks on the democratic institutionality and estabished judicial order cease immediately.

5. In this context, they express the firmest condemnation of the massacre that took place in the department of Pando, and support the call made by the Bolivian government for a Unasur commission to be set up in this brother country to impartially investigate and report this lamentable occurance as soon as possible, and to formulate recommendations in such a way that it is not left unpunished.

6. They ask all members of Bolivian society to preserve national unity and the territorial integrity of that country, basic fundamentals of any State, and to reject any intent to undermine those principles.

7. They call for dialogue to establish the conditions that will permit the present situation to be overcome, and create the search for a sustainable solution, under full respect of the state of curfew and the current legal order.

8. In this respect, the Presidents of Unasur agree to create a commission open to all members, coordinated by the Pro-tempore Presidency, to accompany the tasks of the the dialogues conducted by the legitimate government of Bolivia

9. They will create a support and assistance commission to the government of Bolivia, in function to its requirements and including specialist human resources.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Santiago de Chile, 15 de septiembre de 2008

Las Jefas y Jefes de Estado y de Gobierno de Unasur, reunidos en el Palacio de La Moneda, en Santiago de Chile, el 15 de septiembre de 2008, con el propósito de considerar la situación en la República de Bolivia, y recordando los trágicos episodios en que hace 35 años en este mismo lugar conmocionaron a toda la humanidad;

Considerando que el tratado constitutivo de Unasur, firmado en Brasilia, el 23 de mayo de 2008, consagra los principios del irrestricto respeto a la soberanía, a la no injerencia en asuntos internos, a la integridad y a la inviolabilidad territorial, a la democracia y sus instituciones y al irrestricto respeto de los Derechos Humanos;

Ante los graves hechos que se registran en la hermana República de Bolivia, y en pos del fortalecimiento del diálogo político y la cooperación para el fortalecimiento de la seguridad ciudadana, los países integrantes de Unasur expresan:

1. Su más pleno y decidido respaldo al Gobierno constitucional del Presidente Evo Morales, cuyo mandato fue ratificado por una amplia mayoría en el reciente referendo.

2. Advierten que sus respectivo Gobiernos rechazan enérgicamente y no reconocerán cualquier situación que implique un intento de golpe civil, la ruptura del orden institucional, o que comprometa la integridad territorial de la República de Bolivia.

3. Consecuente con lo anterior, y en consideración a la grave situación que afecta a la hermana República de Bolivia, condena el ataque a instalaciones gubernamentales y a la fuerza pública por parte de grupos que buscan la desestabilización de la democracia boliviana, exigiendo la pronta devolución de esas instalaciones como condición para el inicio de un proceso de diálogo.

4. A la vez, hacen un llamado a todos los actores políticos y sociales involucrados a que tomen las medidas necesarias para que cesen inmediatamente las acciones de violencia, intimidación y de desacato a la institucionalidad democrática y al orden jurídico establecido.

5. En ese contexto, expresan su más firme condena a la masacre que se vivió en el departamento de Pando, y respaldan el llamado realizado por el Gobierno boliviano, para que una comisión de Unasur pueda constituirse en ese hermano país, para realizar una investigación imparcial que permita esclarecer a la brevedad este lamentable suceso y formular recomendaciones, de tal manera de garantizar que el mismo no quede en la impunidad.

6. Instan a todos los miembros de la sociedad boliviana a preservar la unidad nacional y la integridad territorial de ese país, fundamentos básicos de todo Estado y a rechazar cualquier intento de socavar esos principios.

7. Hacen un llamado al diálogo para establecer las condiciones que permitan superar la actual situación y concertar la búsqueda de una solución sustentable, en el marco del pleno respeto al Estado de Derecho y al orden legal vigente.

8. En ese sentido, los Presidentes de Unasur acuerdan crear una comisión abierta a todos sus miembros, coordinada por la Presidencia Pro-Témpore, para acompañar los trabajos de esa mesa de diálogo, conducida por el legítimo Gobierno de Bolivia.

9. Crean una comisión de apoyo y asistencia al Gobierno de Bolivia, en función de sus requerimientos incluyendo recursos humanos especializados.

From the UNASUR conference

Bachelet waves to prove she isn't
tweaking Studmuffin's buns

We're now six hours into the closed door meeting between the nine heads of state (Evo decided to turn up after all), the Peru chancellor* and the Head of the OAS Insulza (the best President Chile never had).

Lots of men wearing ties, and some dude from Paraguay, too

Word is that the group has finished debate and is about to make a nine point declaration called "The Declaration of the Moneda" (the name of Chile's Presidential Palace), after which the current President of UNASUR, Michelle Bachelet will hold a press conference (which is likely to be brief). There's quite a lot of speculation about the contents of the declaration, but it seems wiser for us all to wait until we hear rather than second-guess.

Seriously bad interior colour design, Michelle

I'll update this with the declaration as soon as it hits.

UPDATE 1: Not the declaration yet, but the words of Klishtina Fernandesh de Kirchner as she left the meeting (she sure likes 'her moments' with the press corps):

"We fully ratify our support of the democratic government of President Evo Morales. At the same time, we place as a condition to start dialogue that the groups that have illegally occupied public buildings and have taken actions such as roadblocks etc cede and hand back those buildings as condition of dialogue.

"At the same time, we condemn and reject any attempt of a civil coup or rupture of institutional order, and no situation will be recognized that is product of actions of this nature."

UPDATE 2: Here's the full declaration, as read out by President Michelle Bachelet a few minutes ago at the presser (photo). Translation Otto

Bachelet: "Hmmm, looks like rain."

Santiago de Chile, September 15 2008

The heads of state and the government of Unasur, meeting in the Palace of the Moneda, Santiago de Chile, September 15 2008, with the purpose of considering the situation in the Republic of Bolivia and remembering the tragic episodes 35 years ago in this very place that shocked all humanity:

Considering the the constitutive treaty of Unasur, signed in Brasilia on May 23rd 2008, enshrines the principles of unrestricted respect for sovereignty, of the non-interference in internal affairs, of the integrity and inviolbility of territory, of democracy and its institutions and the unrestricted respect of human rights;

Faced with the grave occurances reported in the sister Republic of Bolivia, and in favour of the strengthening of political dialogue and cooperation for the strengthening of citizen's security, the countries that make up Unasur express:

1. Their fullest and decided support for the constitutional government of President Evo Morales, whose mandate was ratified by a wide margin in the recent referendum.

2. They warn that its respective governments energetically reject and do not recognize any situation that implies an intent of civil coup d'etat, the rupture of institutional order, or that compromises the territorial integrity of the Republic of Bolivia

3. Consequent to the above, and in consideration of the grave situation that affects the sister Republic of Bolivia, they condemn the attack on government installations and public forces by groups that look for the destabilization of Bolivia's democracy, and demand the prompt return of those installations as condition for the start of the dialogue process.

4. At the same time, they call for all political and social actors involved to take the necessary measures so that acts of violence, intimidation, attacks on the democratic institutionality and estabished judicial order cease immediately.

5. In this context, they express the firmest condemnation of the massacre that took place in the department of Pando, and support the call made by the Bolivian government for a Unasur commission to be set up in this brother country to impartially investigate and report this lamentable occurance as soon as possible, and to formulate recommendations in such a way that it is not left unpunished.

6. They ask all members of Bolivian society to preserve national unity and the territorial integrity of that country, basic fundamentals of any State, and to reject any intent to undermine those principles.

7. They call for dialogue to establish the conditions that will permit the present situation to be overcome, and create the search for a sustainable solution, under full respect of the state of curfew and the current legal order.

8. In this respect, the Presidents of Unasur agree to create a commission open to all members, coordinated by the Pro-tempore Presidency, to accompany the tasks of the the dialogues conducted by the legitimate government of Bolivia

9. They will create a support and assistance commission to the government of Bolivia, in function to its requirements and including specialist human resources.

*Alan's official excuse for not attending is he needs Parliament approval to leave the country, the meeting was called at very short notice and the Peru politicos weren't sitting....yeaah, right)

Applause for Alvaro Uribe, Colombia and the rest of UNASUR

The first time I've shown a non-silly pose photo of Uribe on site.
Credit where credit is due.

Better late than never, perhaps, but now that Colombia has spoken out on Bolivia it's done so with gravity. Importantly, President Alvaro Uribe has decided to stop whatever he was doing and will also be at the hastily convened UNASUR meeting tomorrow. This decision should be roundly applauded by everybody, both for its gesture of solidarity towards Bolivia and the region as well as its clear symbolic message to those outside looking in. I salute Uribe's decision.

As for that meeting tomorrow, eight of the twelve Presidents that are members of Unasur have confirmed their presence: Cristina Fernández (Argentina), Lula da Silva (Brazil), Alvaro Uribe (Colombia), Rafael Correa (Ecuador), Fernando Lugo (Paraguay), Tabaré Vázquez (Uruguay), Hugo Chávez (Venezuela) and of course the host Michelle Bachelet (Chile).

Somewhat ironically Evo Morales has not yet confirmed his presence, as he will decide at the last minute whether to attend. As you might imagine, he has a few things to deal with right now.

Word from Lima is that Alan García will not attend but will be represented by his Chancellor. However Peru and García did emit another press release today showing strong, total support for Morales and Bolivia. We'll let this one pass Alan, ok? The other two members of UNASUR, Suriname and Guyana, have not yet confirmed their attendance.

Back to Uribe&Co, and Colombia also issued a communiqué today which is totally supportive of the Morales administration, including:

"Faced with the occurances presented in the sister Republic of Bolivia, Colombia wishes to express to the government and nation of Bolivia its support of President Morales, the democratic institutions and to the state of curfew (in the Pando department)." (Colombia) has also suffered through violence and does not wish this lamentable flagellation on any brother people."

I have high hopes for the meeting tomorrow. Let there be peace, and let there be peace brokered by Latin America for Latin America.