L. da Silva: South-South Summit in Salvador

Just weeks after the emergency UNASUR meeting held in Chile (which, by definition, excluded US participation), plans are underway for another meeting in Bahia, Brazil in mid-December.

Brazilian Foreign Minister, Celso Amorim, told press this week that the meeting can be seen as another key step towards regional integration, which he deems "necessary," adding that international crises such as those underway "demand integrated solutions."

Other leaders are less coy about the promise for integration. Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque called the summit a chance for the region to "speak with its own voice," and sees it as the start of a longer "process toward unity, integration and cooperation among the Latin American and Caribbean countries."

While the topics of the summit purport to be large and wide-ranging, what is clear is that the summit will be infused with an urgent spirit based primarily on the external and international crises on money, energy, and food.

Particularly interesting is the enthusiasm that foreign leaders have shown for the summit to be held in Brazil, and for the leadership that Lula is showing in the region. As Lula faces the nearing of the end of his mandate, the question of his legacy may well be on his mind.

Also of interest--to me, anyhow--is that a google news search (English, all dates) of "summit" + "Brazil" + "December" yields only news sources from Cuba, China, Brazil (and one random one from Italy).

Sources: IPS News, Granma, Xinhua News Service, Bloggings by Boz