Ecuador’s President, Lenin Moreno. | Photo: Reuters
Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno is asking the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) to hand over the regional integration bloc’s headquarters building, located north of Quito, as uncertainty over the bloc’s future continues.
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“The Unasur building was ceded to the countries that make it up. We are going to ask Unasur to return that building so it can be better used. We are not opposed to integration, but it hasn’t worked because of a disrespect of others,” Moreno posted on his Twitter account.
Unasur, a project of regional economic and political integration championed by progressive leaders such as former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and former Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, has faced challenges as a surge of right-wing governments have begun to oppose it. Earlier this year, six countries suspended their membership.
The organization’s leadership had fallen into the hands of right-wing Argentine President Mauricio Macri, and failed to find cohesiveness during this time. Several countries announced their suspension after Bolivia assumed the temporary leadership of the bloc.
President Moreno’s decision comes only days after his government announced it was seeking the preventive detention of former President Correa for alleged involvement in a failed kidnapping, charges he vehemently denies. Thousands of Correa supporters went out into the streets of Quito on Thursday to condemn the decision.