Source:
IFIs Latin American Monitor
María José Romero
Tue Sep 16 2008
The process of the Bank of the South is made up by a sum of official and social instances that have nourished it with content. From March 2006 to July 2008 it is possible to identify landmarks along the way. This chronology presents some of the outstanding facts and its main actors.
March 24 2006, Caracas, Venezuela: During the “Seminar on Financial Integration” organized by the presidents of the Central Banks of Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela, several issues regarding financial integration were addressed. The president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, launched the proposal of the Bank of the South for the first time.
September 11-16, Havana, Cuba: At the 14th Summit of the Non-Alligned Movement (NAM), the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, proposed once again the creation of the Bank of the South and the need to strengthen South-South cooperation.
September 22-24, Caracas, Venezuela: During the First International Symposium on Public Debt, Citizen Auditing and Investment and Savings Alternatives for Latin American Peoples, organized by Centro Internacional Miranda (CIM), CADTM and Jubilee South/Americas, some participants included the Bank of the South proposal in their presentations.
February 21 2007, Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela: Hugo Chávez, president of Venezuela, and Néstor Kichner, president of Argentina, signed a memorandum of understanding, which launched official negotiations for the creation of the Bank.
March 16-20, Guatemala: At the Annual Meeting of the IDB Board of Governors, the issue was included in informal conversations and at a meeting held by the ministers of Economy and Finance of Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela.
April 16 and 17, Margarita Island, Venezuela: At the First South American Energy Summit, the presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Venezuela got together to evaluate the scope of the Bank and spoke publicly about the subject.
May 3 2007: The president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, met with the ministers of Economy and Finance of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Venezuela and Ecuador to consider the general guidelines of the new regional financial architecture. The Quito Declaration was signed, based on four pillars:
1. To give priority to the creation of the Bank of the South as a Development Bank;
2. To analyze the possibility of advancing towards the concept of a Stabilization Fund, based on the reinforcement of the Latin American Reserve Fund (FLAR);
3. To advance in the development of a regional monetary system;
4. To call upon all the governments of South American countries to join the process of creation of the Bank of the South within the framework of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR).
June 28 and 29, Asuncion, Paraguay: During the Summit of MERCOSUR presidents, Uruguay announced it would join the Bank. The Asuncion Declaration was signed, as a result of the meeting of Paraguayan president, Nicanor Duarte, with the ministers of Economy and Finance of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela and Paraguay, where it was established that the Bank’s governance bodies shall have an equal representation of each one of its member countries. Within the framework of the “Summit of the People of the South”, different networks, organizations and social movements presented an Open Letter to the governments involved in the creation of the Bank, expressing their aims and claims with respect to the institution.
October 8, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: The ministers of Economy and Finance of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela revised and reached a consensus proposal for the Bank’s Foundation Charter. The Rio Declaration was signed. Colombia expressed interest to join the initiative.
November 8-10, Santiago, Chile: Within the framework of the Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government, networks, organizations and social movements delivered the Second Open Letter to the presidents of the group. Said organizations carried out activities to evaluate the process of creation of the Bank within the framework of the “Summit for Friendship and Integration of the Ibero-American Peoples”.
November 17-19, Caracas, Venezuela: The Ministry for the Popular Power of Education, through the CIM, invited members of the global debt movement to discuss once again the nature of the Southern Bank.
December 9, Buenos Aires, Argentina: The presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, Venezuela and Uruguay signed the Foundational Charter of the Southern Bank. Finally, Colombia did not attend the ceremony and did not sign the Charter. The agreed aim of the Bank is to “finance the economic and social development of countries belonging to the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) that are members of the Bank, in an balance and stable way, making use of intra and extra-regional savings; to strengthen integration; to reduce asymmetries and promote the equitable distribution of investments among Bank member countries.” The ministers of Economy and Finance of signatory countries committed themselves to work on the draft of the Bank’s Articles of Agreement with a view to signing them.
December 15, Montevideo, Uruguay: Within the framework of the MERCOSUR Summit of South American Presidents and the South American People's Summit, more than 40 civil society representatives of South America attended a workshop to debate the process of the Bank of the South, and its implications for development financing and the integration process.
April 25 2008, Montevideo, Uruguay: The ministers of Economy and Finance of member countries got together in order to analyze issues pending resolution. The Argentine delegation failed to attend the meeting owing to the resignation of Economy Minister Martín Lousteau and the appointmen, on that same day, of Carlos Fernández as the new minister. The main resolution of the meeting was related to the contributions of capital of Bank member countries. Three bands were created aiming at contemplating existing asymmetries among countries of the bloc. The first group comprises Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela, countries that will furnish 2 billion dollars each. The second group is made up of Uruguay and Ecuador which will contribute 400 million. While in the third group we find Paraguay and Bolivia, which will furnish 100 million. Thus, the Bank’s subscribed capital was set at 7 billion dollars.
June 23-26, Quito, Ecuador: The government of Ecuador, together with the United Nations, organized a workshop aimed at dealing with the technical aspects of the Bank. The areas analyzed were: governance and administration; capital, shares and resource gathering; investment policies and instruments; cycle of operations, safeguards and Bank purchases; participation and transparency. The event had the participation of numerous civil society organizations, scholars of several countries (North and South), technicians and former officials of other multilateral banks, such as the World Bank, apart from representatives of the technical commissions of Paraguay, Bolivia and Ecuador, involved in the official negotiations for the creation of the Bank.
June 27, Buenos Aires, Argentina: The ministerial meeting attended by representatives of Bank member countries ratified the items agreed upon in Montevideo with regards to the contribution of capital and reiterated the invitation to the rest of countries making up the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). The opening subscribed capital will be of 10 billion dollars. To the 7 billion dollars agreed, 3 billion are to be added which would be furnished by Colombia, Peru, Chile, Surinam and Guyana. The conclusions of the technical workshop held at Quito were presented at this meeting.
July 21, Asuncion, Paraguay: At the 21st meeting of the Multilateral Technical Commision, made up by officials of the ministries of economy and finance of member countries, progress was made in the definition of the Bank’s Articles of Agreement. Until now, it is known that the Bank’s bodies will be: a Board of Ministers, an Administration Board, an Audit Board and the Board of Directors which will have an executive committee.
The author specially thanks Carlos Bedoya (Latindadd) for his contribution.
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