[6][7] As the Constitutive Treaty entered into force on 11 March 2011, UNASUR became a legal entity during a meeting of Foreign Ministers in Mitad del Mundo, Ecuador, where they had laid the foundation stone for the Secretariat Headquarters.

Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Uruguay, Paraguay, Peru, Guyana and Suriname were invited to join the new regional bloc.

Between the 15th and 19th centuries, the Spanish and Portuguese colonization brought about the establishment and development of colonial empires in the Americas that integrated politically, economically and culturally vast extensions of the continent each with their respective metropolis.

A notable early exponent of this trend was Francisco de Miranda, who envisioned a federated republic encompassing all of Hispanic America, which he called "Colombia".

The independence war efforts saw the concurrence of integrated armies composed by Spanish Americans of diverse regions on both sides of the conflict (v.g.

The complete integration between the Andean Community and the Mercosur nations was formalized during the meeting of South American heads of state that took place on 23 May 2008 in Brasília.

The leaders announced the intention of modeling the new community in the mold of the European Union, including a unified passport, a parliament and, eventually, a single currency.

The then Secretary General of the Andean Community Allan Wagner speculated that an advanced union such as the EU should be possible within the next fifteen years.

[19][20] On 28 December 2005, Chilean former foreign minister Ignacio Walker proposed that the Union's former designation, the South American Community of Nations, abbreviated as CSN, be changed to South American Union; nevertheless, many members responded that that proposal had already been rejected to prevent confusion since its acronym of U.S.A. (Spanish: Unión Sudamericana) would be easily confused for the United States of America.

The new name was jointly agreed by all member states during the first day of meeting at the First South American Energy Summit,[28] held at Isla Margarita, Venezuela.

After Colombian Ernesto Samper completed his term as Secretary General in January 2017, the UNASUR governments have been unable to reach consensus on the organization's future leadership.

[30] In August 2017, six members of UNASUR—Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay and Peru—joined in forming the Lima Group, a coalition of Western Hemisphere nations that repudiates the Venezuela government of Nicolás Maduro as antidemocratic.

[34] Paraguayan Foreign Minister stated that his country's objection concerned the failure to put a new Secretary General in place, and the need to make the organization less ideological, but did not reflect negatively on Bolivia's leadership.

[38] On 7 March 2019 Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro announced that Brazil would withdraw from UNASUR and join the newly created PROSUR.

After the death of Néstor Kirchner in 2010, there was a period of time when the position went unfilled, which eventually ended when María Emma Mejía Vélez was elected in March 2011.

According to the document "Decisions of the Political Dialogue", which was signed during the 1st South American Energy Meeting, a permanent general cabinet will be created and headquartered in Quito, Ecuador.

[56] The Economic and Financial Council of Unasur was established on 12 August 2011, in Buenos Aires, during a meeting of Finance Ministers and representatives of the Central Banks of the twelve countries of the region.

Argentine Deputy Economy Minister Roberto Feletti said that the council would study measures to strengthen regional trade in national currencies without the use of dollar.

He explained that the technicians will review the Latin American Reserve Fund (FLAR), aiming at in order to give greater capacity to intervene to the governments of the bloc in case of speculative attacks against currency or sovereign debt.

The then Brazilian Defense Minister, Nelson Jobim, said in April 2008 that the council would be formed after the "political" decision of the presidents who participated in the launch of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) on 23 May 2008.

This was composed of defense ministers of Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela.

Area of public health to be jointly financed by the South American bloc, to coordinate the energy policy of Unasur.

[63] It was created by decision of the Heads of State and Government of UNASUR, meeting extraordinarily in the Coast of Sauipe, Bahia, Brazil in December 2008.

It is also a consultation and consensus body concerning health, which intends to delve deeply into relevant themes and strengthen public policies aimed at improving the living conditions of the inhabitants of the South American continent.

The Health Council aims to strengthen, by establishing a South American political institution with expertise in sanitary issues, the development of solutions to challenges that transcend national borders, developing values and mutual interests among the neighboring countries, thus facilitating the interaction of the Member States health authorities through the exchange of knowledge and technology in the region.

Due to the political crisis that Bolivia faced, pro-tempore president Michelle Bachelet convened an emergency summit in Santiago, Chile, on 15 September 2008.

[75] Presidents of the seven founding countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, Venezuela and Uruguay) officially launched the South American Bank in Buenos Aires in December 2007.

[79] The South American Defense Council (CDS) was proposed by Venezuela and Brazil to serve as a mechanism for regional security, promoting military co-operation.

In November 2006, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, and Uruguay agreed to abolish visa requirements for tourists between any of those nations.

[86] Mercosur, along with its Associate members of Bolivia, Chile, Colombia and Ecuador established that their territories together form an "area of free residence with the right to work" to all its citizens, with no additional requirements other than nationality.