Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations explained

Post:	Secretary General
Body:	the Union of South American Nations
Insignia:	Emblem of the Union of South American Nations.svg
Insigniasize:	100px
Incumbent:	Vacant
Incumbentsince:	January 2017
Termlength:	2 years
Formation:	2010
Inaugural:	Néstor Kirchner

The Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations is the legal representative of the Secretariat of the Union of South American Nations (USAN).

History

The position was established by the UNASUR Constitutive Treaty and the first Secretary General was designated on 4 May 2010.

Function

The Secretary General of UNASUR is proposed by the Foreign Ministers council, and designated by the Heads of State and Government council^[1] for a two-year term, renewable once.^[2] A Secretary General cannot be of the same nationality in succession.

The Secretary General exercises the legal representation of the UNASUR Secretariat. The officials selection for the latter requires an equitative representation between UNASUR Member States. It also requires an equitative representation, as much as possible, along gender, language and ethnic criteria.The tasks of the Secretary General are:

• Helping the Heads of State council, the Foreign Ministers council, the Delegates council, and the Pro Tempore President, in the accomplishment of their tasks.
• Proposing initiatives and monitoring the adequate functioning of the UNASUR organizations.
• Preparing and presenting the Annual Report, and respective reports, to UNASUR organizations meetings.
• Serving as the legal depositary of UNASUR Agreements, and allowing its publication.
• Preparing the annual budget for the Delegates Council consideration, and adopting measures for good management and administration, as needed.
• Projecting reglamentations for the Secretariat, and submitting them to the pertaining bodies for consideration and approval.
• Coordinating the labor bestowed on it by UNASUR organizations along with other Latin American and the Caribbean integration and cooperation entities.
• Executing, according to reglamentations, every necessary legal action for the good management and administration of the Secretariat.

List of Secretaries-General

width=250px colspan=2	Secretary-General	width=70px	Portrait	State	National party	Took office	Left office
1	Néstor Carlos Kirchner		Argentina	Front for Victory—Justicialist Party	4 May 2010	27 October 2010
—	Post vacant by death
2	María Emma Mejia Velez		Colombia	Colombian Liberal Party	9 May 2011	11 June 2012
3	Alí Rodríguez Araque			Great Patriotic Pole—United Socialist Party of Venezuela	11 June 2012	31 July 2014
4	Ernesto Samper		Colombia	Colombian Liberal Party	1 August 2014	31 January 2017^[3]
—	Post vacant; No successor approved^[4]

External links

• Official site

Notes and References

1. http://www.pptunasur.com/downloads/tratado-constitutivo-UNASUR.pdf UNASUR Constituve Treaty
2. Web site: Breaking News, World News and Video from al Jazeera.
3. Web site: Ernesto Samper, secretario de Unasur, se despide de Ecuador. 31 January 2017. El Comercio. es-LA. 22 March 2018.
4. News: Argentina insta a Ecuador a solucionar crisis en UNASUR. 2 March 2018. Vistazo. 21 March 2018. es.