A planned presidential summit between the heads of state of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) has been suspended due to scheduling conflicts amongst member countries, according to sources from the Uruguayan Foreign Ministry.
The meeting, originally planned for next week, will now take place in October, when Surinam hands over the pro tempore presidency of the institution to Uruguay in Montevideo.
«It is not unknown for this to happen,» officials told reporters in Uruguay as they confirmed the summit would be postponed. According to functionaries in President José Mujica’s government, the challenges of coordinating activities for 22 heads of state accounted for the rescheduling.
Uruguay had planned to propose a debate over the situation in Gaza. Foreign minister Luis Almagro asserted that «it would be great to have regional consensus over the issue… Unasur has never underlined its commitment to tackle the biggest political issues on the international agenda.»
The summit was expected to begin on August 18 with meetings between technicians and consultants. The key dates were August 21 and 22, when the presidents of the bloc were to discuss an extensive list of activities.
Source: Buenos Aires Herald