South American regionalism is facing a complex situation. Despite the expectations generated by the return of Lula da Silva in Brazil, there is still a lack of clarity.

Coauthor Sergio Cesarin This region, comprising areas of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, holds the largest lithium reserves in the world.

For decades, different common currency projects have been conceived and proposed in Latin America. All of them have failed.

The 'Sur' would be an accounting instrument rather than a tangible currency. It would therefore be an index whose value would always be different from that of its component currencies and would be calculated based on a basket of the same currencies and/or commodities.

The emigration of 5.6 million Venezuelans since 2015 means that South America is suffering the largest forced displacement in the region's history. On March 1, 2021, the Colombian government issued a decree to regularize more than one million Venezuelans residing irregularly in the country.

The cross of ideas between Fernández and Lacalle Pou ("freeing oneself from the corset" vs. "getting off the boat"), minor and anecdotal, will nevertheless be recorded as an episode that reflects the existing differences and their implications: an eventual fork in the road between the countries of the Southern Cone.