Unasur calls for 'limiting vulture funds' actions'

The Union for South American Nations (Unasur) agreed to limit the actions of vulture funds and categorically rejected a referendum that will take in place in the Malvinas islands in March to decide the political status of the archipelago, during the summit that takes place in Lima.

"Both issues were fully backed by Argentina and included in the final document approved in the meeting," Vice-President Amado Bodou stressed, as he represented President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who did not attend due to back pains.

“It was a really important meeting due to two issues that were mentioned in the final communiqué. One is an explicit rejection to the self-determination and referendum that will take place in Malvinas islands and its eventual result. This reaffirms Argentina and the UN’s 1985 stance. This a political success for the President, but above all for Argentines.”

Boudou also referred to the inclusion of an initiative to move forward against the so called vulture funds, following Judge Thomas Griesa's ruling, which benefited bondholders who did not accept to be a part of the debt swap.

“These vulture funds are destabilizing factors, but they also ruin developed countries because they do not pay taxes anyhwere. And won’t allow countries and their creditors to reach voluntary accords, like Argentina, in which 93 percent of creditors accepted the proposal.”

“Our coming together as a group will be the base in order to construct a South American citizenship, making it into a reality,” Peruvian President Ollanta Humala said earlier.

Humala added that decisions should be made in order “for us to be authentically South American,” stating that “physical integration continues to make up the backbone of integration.”

The statements were made at the beginning of the summit, where Vice-President Amado Boudou and Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman were attending representing President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

Humala also said that “while other regions look for ways to overcome crisis, we are at a stage in which we can continue to grow.”

The sixth Unasur summit saw heads of state attend from its 12 member countries including Argentina, Brasil, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Perú, Surinam, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Paraguay has been suspended as a member since June; therefore Paraguayan President Federico Franco was not invited to participate in the event.

Region presidents who did not attend include Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Bolivian President Evo Morales and Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.