The 2010 South American summit (officially the 4th Ordinary Meeting of the Council of Heads of State and Government of the Union of South American Nations), took place in Georgetown, Guyana on November 26, 2010. Eight heads of state and four foreign ministers of the

Union of South American Nations The Union of South American Nations (USAN; es, links=no, Unión de Naciones Suramericanas, UNASUR; pt, links=no, União de Nações Sul-Americanas, UNASUL; nl, links=no, Unie van Zuid-Amerikaanse Naties, UZAN; French: ''Union des nations s ...

attended the summit. During the summit, the leaders signed an additional protocol to the Constitutive Treaty, adding a democratic clause to the charter of the organization.LatAm leaders seek mechanisms to avoid coups
Fox News. Retrieved on 2010-11-27. The Georgetown summit ended with the Ecuadorian president handing the UNASUR pro-tempore presidency for the next twelve months to his Guyanese counterpart,

Bharrat Jagdeo Bharrat Jagdeo (born 23 January 1964) is a Guyanese politician who has been serving as Vice President of Guyana since 2020, in the administration of President Irfaan Ali. He had previously also held the office from 1997 until 1999, during the pr ...

.Guyana takes office as Unasur president
Xinhua. Retrieved on 2010-11-27.

Leaders at the summit

Heads of State and Government

The

heads of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and ...

and

heads of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a ...

of eight countries participated. The heads of state from Chile, Peru, Uruguay and Bolivia could not attend. File:Mensaje de fin de año de la Presidenta (cropped).jpg,

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), often referred to by her initials CFK, is an Argentine lawyer and politician who has served as the Vice President of Argentina since 2019. She also served as the President o ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

File:Juan Manuel Santos In Brazil 2.jpg, Colombia

Juan Manuel Santos Juan Manuel Santos Calderón (; born 10 August 1951) is a Colombian politician who was the President of Colombia from 2010 to 2018. He was the sole recipient of the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize. An economist by profession and a journalist by trade ...

File:Correarafael15012007-4.jpg,

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

Rafael Correa Rafael Vicente Correa Delgado (; born 6 April 1963), known as Rafael Correa, is an Ecuadorian politician and economist who served as President of Ecuador from 2007 to 2017. The leader of the PAIS Alliance political movement from its foundation ...

File:Jagdeo03032007.jpg, Guyana

File:Fernando Lugo Mendez (copyred).jpg,

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

Fernando Lugo Fernando Armindo Lugo Méndez (; born 30 May 1951) is a Paraguayan politician and laicized Catholic bishop who was President of Paraguay from 2008 to 2012. Previously he was a Roman Catholic priest and bishop, serving as Bishop of the Diocese ...

File:President Bouterse.JPG, Suriname

Dési Bouterse Desiré Delano "Dési" Bouterse (; born 13 October 1945) is a Surinamese military officer, politician, convicted murderer and drug trafficker who served as President of Suriname from 2010 to 2020. From 1980 to 1987, he was Suriname's ''de fact ...

File:Hugo Chavez photo cut 27-06-2008.jpg,

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

Hugo Chávez,

Foreign ministers

The foreign ministers of Bolivia (

David Choquehuanca David Choquehuanca Céspedes (born 7 May 1961) is a Bolivian diplomat, peasant leader, politician, and trade unionist serving as the 39th vice president of Bolivia since 2020. A member of the Movement for Socialism, he previously served as min ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

(Alfredo Moreno),

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

( José Antonio García Belaúnde) and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

(Luis Almagro) represented their respective governments.

Issues

Regional integration

Brazilian President

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (; born Luiz Inácio da Silva; 27 October 1945), known mononymously as Lula, is a Brazilian politician, trade unionist, and former metalworker who is the president-elect of Brazil. A member of the Workers' Party ...

advocated for the elimination of the asymmetries stopping the integration of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

, in his speech during the summit. "None of our countries will really be prosperous, without all of us being also prosperous," said the Brazilian president.

Secretary-General

The name of the new secretary-general of the organization will remain unknown until the next presidential meeting in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

Guyanese presidency

Guyana, which took over the Unasur rotating presidency from Ecuador, is one of

's poorest countries and for this reason, President Lula has already announced that Brazil will provide assistance for Georgetown's efforts in presiding over the regional bloc.

Falklands/Malvinas

The summit addressed the

Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute Sovereignty over the Falkland Islands ( es, Islas Malvinas) is disputed by Argentina and the United Kingdom. The British claim to sovereignty dates from 1690, when they made the first recorded landing on the islands, and the United Kingdom has exe ...

between Argentina and the United Kingdom. Several articles of the final declaration state that all Unasur ports will be closed to vessels operating under the "illegal flag of Malvinas (Falkland Islands)".Unasur unable to agree on secretary; closes all ports to ‘illegal’ Malvinas flagged vessels
Mercopress. Retrieved on 2010-11-27.

Accomplishments

Democratic clause

The leaders adopted an additional protocol to the organization's Constitutive Treaty, which added a democratic clause to the charter. The democratic clause imposes sanctions on any member country of UNASUR that breaks or attempts to break constitutional rule or the

democratic system Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...

. The clause establishes sanctions, such as shutting down borders and the suspension of trade, against the country that suffers an attempted coup. The decision to include a democratic clause was made after the recent upheaval in Ecuador that briefly threatened the administration of President,

Georgetown Declaration

At the end of the summit, the heads of state and foreign ministers issued the "Georgetown Declaration". In the declaration, the leaders reiterated their commitment expressed in the “Declaration of Bariloche” of August 28, 2009, to strengthen South America as a zone of peace, upholding the decision to refrain from resorting to the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity of another UNASUR State. The leaders expressed their willingness to continue working toward the consolidation of a common space for the political, economic, social, cultural, energy, environmental and infrastructure integration of the region, in order to achieve sustainable development.UNASUR Summit close with historic ‘Georgetown Declaration’
Kaieteur News. Retrieved on 2010-11-27.

References

{{Member States of the Union of South American Nations South American Summit, 2010 South American Summit, 2010 Summits of the Union of South American Nations 21st century in Georgetown, Guyana Diplomatic conferences in Guyana 2010 in Guyana November 2010 events in South America