VP Mourão to represent Brazil in Prosur meeting, in Colombia

Vice President Hamilton Mourão (left) and President Bolsonaro. Photo: Bruno Batista/VPR

President Jair Bolsonaro decided not to attend the Forum for the Progress and Development of South America (Prosur) summit in the Colombian city of Cartagena later this week. He chose VP Hamilton Mourão to replace him, instead.

Mr. Bolsonaro’s decision raised concerns about his health — earlier this year, he was hospitalized for a second time in seven months to deal with bowel obstructions. The president’s personal physician, however, dismissed those claims.

Prosur was created in 2019 as a right-wing alternative to Unasur — a left-leaning multilateral body created one decade prior. But just like its predecessor, Prosur has had limited relevance, in line with most multilateral initiatives in the region. As Günther Maihold, Deputy Director of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, said in 2018, “Latin America has a long tradition of failed multilateralism.” The limits for integration come, says Mr. Maihold, “when it comes to narrowing national sovereignty.”