What is the currency that Lula da Silva proposes for South America?

Eleven presidents of South American countries met on Tuesday, May 30, in Brasilia to discuss viable strategies that would allow economic, cultural and social rapprochement on the continent.

The summit was attended by President Gustavo Petro and other leaders, who They discussed the bilateral relations that are advanced for the progress of the region.

(We recommend reading: Maduro, Petro and the ‘Brasilia pact’: its scope to unify the South).

It was then that the host of the meeting, the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, delivered about 10 proposals for economic development and said that it was feasible to create a single currency for trade in South America.

“Deepen our South American identity also in the monetary field, through more efficient compensation mechanisms and the creation of a common reference unit for tradereducing the dependence on extra-regional currencies”, the president stated.

President Gustavo Petro in Brazil at the summit of 11 leaders.

Lula da Silva plans an economic system similar to the one that moves in the European Unionwhere the euro is the regional currency and with the highest traffic in several countries.

(You might be interested in: The road map with which South American leaders seek to reactivate regional integration).

Within the proposalsthe host of the meeting also said that it is important that development banks work together to finance the regional drive and carry out economic projects in the area.

The idea has already been planted on several occasions and in fact, it arose with the creation of Mercosur in 1991: a commercial support bloc made up of Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Paraguay.

at the summit, Lula da Silva also spoke of the intention to put aside limiting ideologies that impede the progress of the region:

“We understand that South American integration is essential to strengthen the unity of Latin America and the Caribbean. A strong, secure, and politically organized South America expands the possibilities of affirming, at the international level, a true Latin American and Caribbean identity,” said the president.