Latin union would be modeled on Europe's

South American leaders agreed Saturday to create a high-level commission to study the idea of forming a continentwide community similar to the European Union.

The presidents and envoys of 12 nations wrapped up a two-day summit of the South American Community of Nations, hosted by Bolivian President Evo Morales in Cochabamba, a city tucked between the Andes and the Amazon in the heart of the continent. "We seek that South America be forever a region of peace that works to solve the economic problems of its historically abandoned majority," he said.

The leaders agreed to form a study group in Rio de Janeiro to look at creating a continentwide union, and even a South American parliament. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a former metalworker who was re-elected in October, assured his fellow leaders that the group could rise above its historical divisions to unite the continent — though the process would not be easy. "We must have patience and try to solve these issues with delicacy," Silva said. "The solutions are difficult. We're not just simple workers talking about a strike at the factory."

The result left fiery Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, long an agitator for the region taking a greater role on the world stage, pleased but impatient. "We need a political Viagra," Chavez said. "Look, we make decisions and we don't have the power to execute them. They're stuck in these pyramids of paper."

The discussion over South American unity likely will continue later this month when the leaders of Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Paraguay and Uruguay gather in Brazil. Chile's Socialist President Michelle Bachelet said globalization had "two faces" — one "potentially very destructive" but another that presented a "historic opportunity for societies like ours."

Houston Chronicle