Sooner, rather than later, we shall have a single currency, a single passport... Sooner, rather than later, we shall have a parliament with directly elected representatives for this new nation that we are creating today. — Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, 8 December 2004

The 2004 South American summit, held from December 7-9 of this year, concluded with the announcement that twelve South American nations had signed the Cuzco Declaration. The two-page document was called a "preamble to the deed of foundation of the South American Community of Nations", or South American Union, which unites the continent's two preexisting free-trade organizations.

The South American Community of Nations, modeled on the European Union, is planned to eventually include a common currency, parliament, and passport. Estimates are varied, but Allan Wagner, Secretary General of the Andean Community, estimates that a complete union "like that of the EU" is possible in the next fifteen years. A constitution for the new Community will be drafted sometime in 2005, likely following the first SACN summit to be held in Brazil early in the new year.

Mercosur Permanent Representatives Committee President Eduardo Duhalde stated that the idea behind the South American Community was to move forward toward the complete integration of the entire American continent - a total of nearly 17 million square kilometers and nearly 800 billion dollars GDP.

Statistics for the New Community

• About 2.7% of global GDP in 2003
• Population: 361 million
• Territory: 17,658,000 sq km
• Exports: $181,000,000
• Participating Nations:
  • Bolivia
  • Colombia
  • Ecuador
  • Peru
  • Venezuela
  • Argentina
  • Brazil
  • Paraguay
  • Uruguay
  • Chile
  • Guyana (Is not immediately joining)
  • Suriname (Is not immediately joining)