Mujica proposes to blend Mercosur and Unasur into an only `more flexible group

Uruguayan president Jose Mujica proposed to its South American peers to blend Mercosur and Unasur into an only group, according to an interview with a Uruguayan weekly in which he also ratified his commitment with Venezuela (and its oil resources) to justify the incorporation of the fifth full member of Mercosur.

The Uruguayan president again floated a new proposal

“I favour and have proposed my peers to transform Mercosur in Unasur or the other way around, so that they become an only group. I don’t know how it would be called but we need to open other institutional paths, which are more flexible and more realistic”, said the Uruguayan leader.

Mujica said he shared his proposal with the presidents from Argentina, Cristina Fernandez; Brazil, Dilma Rousseff; Chile, Sebastián Peñera and Peru’s Ollanta Humala during the recent Mercosur summit in Mendoza which was followed by an emergency meeting of Unasur, Union of South American Nations.

“The region must think and look twenty years ahead and forget the short sightedness, the short terms”, Mujica told his peers.

The president said that with Venezuela inside Mercosur “it’s a three giants match against two weaklings (Uruguay and Paraguay) but with Unasur we can open to other strong countries from the Pacific such as Colombia, Peru and Chile”.

He also argued that Uruguay gave its support for Venezuela’s controversial incorporation to Mercosur, during the Mendoza summit, which was possible following the suspension of Paraguay, “not taking advantage of a circumstantial situation but because we are committed to Venezuela, its oil resources and its reality”.

“We are telling the world: ’wait a minute, we need the oil resources here (in South America)”, explained Mujica. Uruguay imports all of the oil it consumes and Venezuela has become the supplier of 65% of that total.

The way Venezuela was admitted into Mercosur triggered a sour controversy in Uruguay and particularly in the ruling coalition. Vice-president Danilo Astori described it as a “serious blow and injury” because it is “a very harmful serious institutional aggression”.

Astori is considered the architect of Uruguay’s current orthodox policy and the guarantee of the country’s fiscal consolidation, investments and attempts to further open the economy. He has become increasingly critical of Argentina and Brazil’s protectionist policies.

Foreign minister Luis Almagro revealed that Uruguay did not want the access of Venezuela to occur as it happened and that his Ministry will assess the juridical validity of such a move, which must be confirmed at a Mercosur meeting scheduled for July 31 in Rio do Janeiro.

Both Almagro and the Defence minister Fernandez Huidobro have been summoned to Congress to explain what really happened in Mendoza at the summit and to explain the presence during a week in Uruguay of 250 Venezuelan forces, without approval from the Legislative, and which on several occasions in meetings with their peers in military barracks swore allegiance to the Bolivarian Socialist regime of President Hugo Chavez.

Meanwhile Uruguay’s junior opposition party proposed during a long debate in the Lower House of congress that the Mercosur 1991 founding chart be again signed by the presidents and ratified by the four countries parliaments.

Brazil (The Voice of Reason) says it is “impossible” to force the Paraguayan congress to review the removal of Lugo

Brazil will wait for the Paraguayan situation caused by the removal of Fernando Lugo “to decant” before assessing the most appropriate measures to address the “rupture of democratic order” in the country, according to Planalto sources.

“We are going to let the crisis in Paraguay to decant and see how things finally rest”, said Marco Aurelio García, international affairs advisor of the Executive. On Saturday Brazil recalled its ambassador in Asuncion for consultations.

“The first step was to recall ambassadors, the second is to share information and see how Mercosur moves on from here and what are the options” added Marco Aurelio quoted by the official Agencia Brazil.

Foreign Minister Antonio Patrota had advanced on Saturday that Mercosur presidents would take advantage of the summit next Thursday/Friday in Mendoza, Argentina, to assess the situation and adopt a joint position.

“Brazil will tune in with what is decided by Mercosur”, underlined García who immediately added that nor Brazil or Mercosur pretend to interfere in the internal affairs of Paraguay, but they can’t stop from condemning what happened in the neighbouring country and express their strongest rejection to the “institutional rupture”.

“Having called our ambassador from Asuncion is a clear signal of our deep disappointment”, indicated Garcia.

The international affairs advisor also said it was “impossible” to adopt actions to force the Paraguayan congress to review its decision to remove Lugo although admitted that some “internal actions” are possible to overcome the institutional situation which Brazil condemns.

Garcia reiterated the Brazilian government condemnation to the removal of Lugo considering he was exposed to a “summary ritual” in which his ample right to defence “was not properly guaranteed”.

“Brazil considers that the procedure adopted by the Paraguayan congress compromises the fundamental pillar of democracy, an essential condition for regional integration”, said the Brazilian Foreign Affairs ministry.

The release finally states that Brazil together with its associates from Mercosur and Unasur is considering measures to be implemented “as a consequence of the rupture of the democratic order” in the framework of the region’s commitments with democracy.

Child soldiers forced to fight as mercenaries in Ivory Coast

The bodies of the United Nations peacekeepers killed on June 8, 2012 in western Ivory coast near the Liberia border arrive at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny International Airport, near Abidjan.

Militias loyal to the former president of the Ivory Coast Laurent Gbagbo are recruiting child soldiers in Liberia to launch cross-border raids on the Ivory Coast.

­Children as young as 14 are being trained, armed and used as scouts according to a recent report by the campaigning group Human Rights Watch.

Matt Wells, the West Africa researcher for Human Rights Watch who carried out much of the research for the report, told RT “recruiting children is a recent phenomenon in the last couple of months and is so they can mount larger attacks.” He suggested that without child soldiers the militias would not have sufficient numbers for their armed raids to be successful.

A 17-year-old Liberian who was recruited to fight with the armed militants told Human Rights Watch that he had taken part in at least one cross-border raid, “They call us 'small boys unit' and we are always safe when we go to the war zones in Ivory Coast. I don't know the total that we have killed.”

Human Rights Watch identified between 100-150 militants who have participated or plan to participate in cross-border raids, although the true figure is thought to be much higher than that.

Wells added that after the uprising in the Ivory Coast “scores if not hundreds of armed supporters of the ousted Gbagbo regime went over to Liberia.”

The Liberian authorities have been slow to stop the activities of the militia groups and the recruitment of child soldiers.

“There are some guys in our community who have been recruiting small boys. We have been complaining to the security forces, but they are always saying they don’t have the evidence to prove it,” a 32-year-old trader in the border region told Human Rights Watch.  

Although the border between Liberia and Ivory Coast is very difficult to monitor and is deep in the bush, Wells said that until the last few days the response from the Liberian authorities has been totally inadequate. But a raid last Friday which killed 15 people including seven UN peace-keepers has forced the governments of both countries to take action. Liberia has now closed its 450-mile border with the former French colony.

The government of Ivory Coast has threatened to deploy soldiers to Liberia to root out the militias if the problem is not swiftly resolved.

The Ivory Coast is still deeply divided and Alassane Ouattara, president since 2010, has struggled to unify a post-conflict army composed of former rebels and government soldiers.    

Gbagbo was arrested in May 2010 after a brief civil war and is now awaiting trial by the International Criminal Court.