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South American leaders attending the 2004 South American Summit launched a regional integration pact they say will usher in European-style unity, giving South America more political and trade clout. The proposed South American Community of Nations will be a continent-wide free trade zone uniting the two existing free-trade organizations -- Mercosur and the Andean Community -- eliminating tariffs for non-sensitive products in 10 years and sensitive products in 15 years.

As Reuters reports, only half of the future union's presidents turned up to sign it. But Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva vowed integration would go beyond rhetoric and translate into concrete gains, like a $700 million highway linking the Atlantic and Pacific that Brazil and Peru plan to build.