[smiley]

What do you make of this?

S. American leaders eye EU-style pact
CUZCO, Peru (Reuters) -- South American presidents met in Peru Wednesday to sign a regional integration pact they said would go beyond rhetoric and usher in European-style unity.
"Sooner rather than later we will have a single currency, a single passport," Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo told the start of the summit in the ancient Inca capital of Cuzco <snip>
The bloc will have a combined gross domestic product of over $800 billion, exports of $188 billion, and big gas, oil and mineral wealth.

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[trespam]

If they can achieve the goal, great for them. I want the world to head towards a decentralized system of several blocks: Asia, North America, South America, Europe, and where-the-heck-does-the-middle-east-fit? Africa? Asia? Over time, these regions can become more and more independent. Perhaps a move towards regions that, in time, can become increasingly independent as energy transport costs increase.

Question: at what price oil does shipping a tennis show from China to the US become more expensive that manufacturing here? I bet we're still pretty from that oil price.

[smiley]

If they can achieve the goal, great for them. I want the world to head towards a decentralized system of several blocks: Asia, North America, South America, Europe, and where-the-heck-does-the-middle-east-fit? Africa? Asia? Over time, these regions can become more and more independent. Perhaps a move towards regions that, in time, can become increasingly independent as energy transport costs increase.

It is starting to look like a game of risk. If that is true then the middle east will become part of Eurasia (9 points).

On paper South America looks pretty strong.Compared to the Middle-East they have a much better position. The Middle-East has oil and sand (a lot of it), but that's about it. The rest they need to import.

South America have a lot of oil, minerals etc. They can be self sufficient in food. If they could stop the corruption which is strangling the economies, South America could become a major player in the post peak world.

[savethehumans]

OK, so we have:

1) OPEC
2) ASEAN
3) The New Asian Alliance (Russia AND China are in this one!)
4) The EU
5) Pan-African Unions
6) Canada, making deals with EVERYONE (in case the US invades them)

I think the writing is on the wall. Instead of MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN, however, this scribble reads:

EURO, EURO, UNION, US S***S.

More power to you, guys! Just remember, there's a lot of us here that know the TRUTH, too! Show us mercy, OK?

[frankthetank]

Is any country in South America nuclear capable or within reach???

[trespam]

Is any country in South America nuclear capable or within reach???

Great question. I googled and came up with this. [link].

I don't think they have weapons, but Brazil is on the road towards building capabilities to create them if necessary.

[savethehumans]

Who needs nukes?! They've got OIL, and they can BURN it! The ultimate blackmail? We shall see....

[frankthetank]

You would think with China needing resources and Brazil able to provide, that an exchange of "technology" might be happening...its impossible to know, but in the realm of possibility.

[savethehumans]

Actually, frank, I seem to remember something about talks between China and Brazil. But maybe that was Venezuela....

Of course, if most of South America is in union, I'd say China was in the catbird seat with that continent!

[Cid_Yama]

South America is thinking of creating a common currency and a central bank along the lines of those in the European Union's euro-zone, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Monday.

The idea is a logical next step following the signing last Friday of a treaty creating a Union of South American States that aims to promote joint regional customs and defense policies, Lula said during his weekly radio broadcast.

Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela all signed up to the UNASUR treaty creating the regional union during a ceremony in Brasilia last Friday.

link

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[Prince]

Apparently the South American Union treaty was signed over the weekend. I heard about this from a blip in my local newspaper. Otherwise, it would have never shown up on my radar. I question why hardly no news agencies at all reported on this. Something this big surely doesn't happen overnight, so why was this given virtually no coverage at all? I find this a bit disturbing. Apparently, like their European counterpart, they are going to create a single currency and push toward free borders. North American Union next?

South American Union formed

[mmasters]

Should be a wake up call to many on the site who holler conspiracy theory when they hear of the concept of a north american union.

[Plantagenet]

Actually, its been in the major papers, including the NY Times.

The new UNASUR even has a flag.

I certainly wish them well. The oil in Venezuela and Colombia and the new discoveries off Brazil should provide a good economic foundation.

[Peleg]

I would say that pretty much fulfills agenda item 3a on the illuminati list of how to create one world. We have the European Union, the soon to be birthed North American Union, the European Union, the African Union. Is there an Asian Union. Once they pull all those spokes together the full invention of the wheel can't be far behind. BTW many in the US think Unasur is a pipe dream.

[gampy]

This thread has rekindled my inner debate concerning world governance.

I used to be all for it. Then I was dead set against it. Then I was somewhat ambivalent about it.

It occurs to me that world governance is a foregone conclusion. The world has become too small a place, with too few resources, and too many people to allow competing nation states to exist as sovereign entities.

The EU has turned out to be a successful model for the super-state, and I can see other geographic blocs emulating it. Once we get three or more EU type arrangements, if they don't kill us all in nuclear war, I can see the natural progression to a world government.

Big or small, government is still government. A necessary evil.

The question in my mind is...what shape would it take?

I can imagine a benevolent, Star Trek type thing. But that is probably naive and un-realistic.

My cynical side sees a world oligarchy/technocracy/corporate fascism.

I guess it all depends on how China and India progress over the next 20 years.

You can be sure that the Neo-cons wish to get these FTA's with Colombia,and others, in writing ASAP. Wouldn't want their hegemony threatened by another powerful economic bloc.

[Peleg]

Should be a wake up call to many on the site who holler conspiracy theory when they hear of the concept of a north american union.

Yes, and it will also irritate those in the Bush Administration who would want to see Chavez swinging from a rope. It will be harder and harder to fund operations down there if they are all cozying up and playing mini-me with the EU. The difficulty is that most of the governments are leftist in a way that makes Neocons very uneasy. They have been moving quickly though since 2005.

[Peleg]

South America is thinking of creating a common currency and a central bank along the lines of those in the European Union's euro-zone, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Monday.

The idea is a logical next step following the signing last Friday of a treaty creating a Union of South American States that aims to promote joint regional customs and defense policies, Lula said during his weekly radio broadcast.

Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela all signed up to the UNASUR treaty creating the regional union during a ceremony in Brasilia last Friday.

So tell me Cid. How does this relate to Chavez and his leftist ambitions? Are we going to see Hugo Chavez President for life of a South American Union, or will entering the Union sideline him, or simply show everyone that he is not the big bad dictator we all feared?

[Nickel]

Should be a wake up call to many on the site who holler conspiracy theory when they hear of the concept of a north american union.

The situation here's a little different. In Europe and South America, the nations involved are much more like peers. In North America, Canada's small population is an issue, as is Mexico's ability to subvert the wage structures of Anglo-America to the detriment of our standard of living.

...That animal in your avatar's not DEAD, is it?

[Cid_Yama]

Colombia has already marginalized themselves by opting out of the mutual defense pact. To be expected, as Colombia is a US foothold in South America and the Union was formed, in part, as resistance to multi-national corporate colonialism. This puts the Union ideologically opposed to the United States. Expect "21st Century Socialism" to be a growing influence throughout South America as well as the Caribbean and Central America who have been encouraged to join and whose interests are more aligned with the South than the North.

<i>The temporary president of UNASUR, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, said the new grouping will help the region “contribute to the construction of this new 21st century, where Latin America is capable of having a strong and firm voice because we have been able to initiate a process of effective integration.”

Bachelet highlighted the potential for UNASUR to promote economic and social development in the region. At the top of the organization’s agenda should be combating poverty, eradicating illiteracy, and coordinating university programs so as to facilitate the movement of professionals throughout the region, she said. Also being contemplated is a regional citizenship.

Lula assured that UNASUR is open to other Latin American countries.</i>

Time to revive the Domino Theory. This time it's not Communism but Socialism, and in my opinion, a good thing. Throw out the elitist exploiters and let compassion rule.

This has grown beyond individual leaders. A Chavez or a Morales may be assasinated or overthrown in a coup, but it is impossible to kill an <b>idea</b> whose time has come.

[Kaj]

I certainly wish them well. The oil in Venezuela and Colombia and the new discoveries off Brazil should provide a good economic foundation.

I am happy to agree with you for once