Brazil president proposes South America currency, as he hosts summit to rebuild regional bloc

By CARLA BRIDI
Associated Press

BRASILIA (AP) — Brazil’s president has proposed the creation of a regional trade currency to rival the U.S. dollar as he hosts a regional summit in a bid to revive a bloc of South America’s 12 politically polarized countries. The Union of South American Nations, or Unasur, was launched in 2008 to boost cooperation. But it became largely defunct about a decade later in disputes over leadership, with right-leaning countries objecting to the inclusion of authoritarian Venezuela. Brazil’s new leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has proposed restarting the bloc now that the region has a greater number of leftist and centrist leaders. On Tuesday he said the group should discuss a common energy market and integration of the region’s defense and security.