Treaty of South American Cooperation
Or
Treaty of Rio de Janeiro
Signed by the Council of Ministers reunited in Rio de Janeiro, in representation of each sovereign nation, composed of Colombia, Brazil and Argentina, which reunite in consideration of:
1) The ties established by the nations of this region that derive from both a love of freedom and self-determination, and a common cultural unity driven by this affiliation with the ideal of freedom.
2) The desire for peace, harmony and development of each nation that struggles valiantly to get on its feet, which can only be achieved in unity and the establishment of rules.
3) The need for protection each young nation requires to keep growing to achieve happiness for each citizen.
EACH NATION, REPRESENTED BY THE COUNCIL, AGREES ON THESE ARTICLES:
TITLE 1:
PRINCIPLES OF THE TREATY
Article 1: The principles that reunite these nations are those of fraternity, liberty, independence and justice. Each of the articles must be interpreted by the spirit of this treaty, hereby stated.
Article 2: If any of the articles violates these principles, the signatories can bring the matter up to the other signatories to reform the treaty, in order to correct it. And in order to organize the signatories into one body, a Council of South American Nations shall be established, with its home in Rio de Janeiro.
Article 2.1: There shall be a biannual meeting of the Council of South American Nations, in order to discuss matters established in this treaty. In case of urgent need for a meeting, the Council shall meet as soon as it is possible, regardless of date.
TITLE 2:
ON THE DEFENSE OF SOUTH AMERICA
Section 1: ON THE DEFENSE AGAINST FOREIGN ACTORS
Article 3: Foreign Actors shall be defined as any State that doesn’t have its self-governing body within South America; for example, the French and British colonies of Guiana do not meet these requirements.
Article 3.1: Independent states in the American Continent are excluded from this category. The relationship of the signatories with these states will be defined in the Pan-American Conference of Panamá.
Article 3.2: In addition, Independent States will be the ones recognized by the majority of the council. This excludes the Confederate States of America, at the moment.
Article 4: In order to preserve the sovereignty and independence of the South American nations, the signatories agree to defend each other against military intervention of any kind by foreign actors.
Article 4.1: The military cooperation doesn’t cover any offensive actions taken against foreign bodies, only being limited to the defense of each nation’s sovereignty.
Article 5: The signatories, in time of war against Foreign Actors –both offensive and defensive-, will open their ports to other signatories in order. However, each signatory will determine for how long and whether troops are allowed to disembark.
Article 6: The signatories shall allow for military access across their territory, with the requirement of necessity to reach combat, of any kind, against a Foreign Actor.
Article 7: In order to prepare each nation’s capacity for a possible attack on their sovereignty, the signatories agree to assist each other in military consultations and to assist each other with equipment.
Section 2: ON THE RESOLUTION OF CONFLICTS WITHIN SOUTH AMERICA
Article 8: It is established that a principle regarding this matter is the preservation of sovereignty for each state of South America, including non-signatories.
Article 9: A second principle regarding this matter is the preservation of peace within the region. The states of South America will avoid any bloodshed between brothers in liberty.
Article 10: Before taking the road of violent resolution, the parties of the conflict will agree to take up the matter to the jurisdiction of the Council, to be debated.
Article 11: If there is a failure to resolve the conflict diplomatically through the Council, the states that do not take part in it must meet to decide their position on the matter.
Article 11.1: There will be prevalence on favor of the defending nation; however, this prevalence can be overruled in debate.
Article 11.2: Once a position is taken, any nation that was against said position shall not intervene against the defense the other states have taken for the defended nation.
Article 11.3: This includes military access, the supplying of weapons, the access to ports and any other action that might aid militarily the attacked nation.
Article 12: If war is to become a reality, all of the parties involved in the conflict must treat the citizens of the attacked and defended nations fairly, respecting their rights and not attacking any person who doesn’t belong to a military force.
Article 12.1: Nations neighboring the nation intervened by the decision of the Council shall open their borders to receive war refugees and shall give them safety until the conflict is over.
Section 3: ON THE DEFENSE OF THE RIGHTS OF MAN INSIDE EACH NATION
Article 13: If there is a violation of the liberties and rights of man within any of the nations of South America by the rulers of said nations, the citizen that has been victim of these infringements can take the matter up to the Council, if judicial resources within their nation have been exhausted.
Article 13.1: In respect of the sovereignty of each nation, the only consequence of the sentences taken by the council will be recommendations and, at most, economic sanctions, depending on the grade of the violation.
Article 14: If there were to be a gross and inhuman violation of the liberties and rights of man on one of the South American states, the Council shall reunite to debate whether intervention is appropriate or not.
Article 14.1: In this case, signatories shall refrain from participating or not in this intervention. However, those who refuse can’t provide any aid to the unlawful regime.
TITLE 3:
ON COLONIAL POSSESIONS
Article 15: Colonial possessions shall be respected as long as the rights and liberties of man aren’t being violated within these territories. The people living within these possessions can take matters up to the Council, as any citizen referred in Article 13.
Article 16: States who have any colonial possessions in the South American region can take up matters to the Council of States to debate any matters, related to South America, they see fit.
Article 17: If any colony seeks independence, the Council shall meet to see if it’s fitting or not to aid them, and in what degree.
TITLE 4:
ON ECONOMIC COOPERATION
Article 18: In order to boost the development of the region, each signatory will reduce the tariffs for imports between them to increase regional trade.
Article 19: Signatories will also open their ports and allow commercial transport within their waters and ports.
Article 20: Signatories will take as an objective the investment on industry and infrastructure in each of their nations to help develop the region.
Article 21: Signatories will allow for grants and transfers between each of their educational institutions to allow for national growth.
Article 22: Signatories may decide to open their borders to other signatories, in order to boost immigration and migrant work within nation. If signatories so desire, they can change their laws to ease property by citizens of signatory nations.
TITLE 5:
ON MEMBERSHIP
Article 23: If a South American nation wishes to join the Council, they must get approved by the majority of the council. Doing so, also earns them recognition as an independent state.
Article 23.1: The founding member-states of the council (namely: the Empire of Brazil, the Grenadine Confederation, and the Argentine Republic) have veto power over the admission of new members. If any one of the founding members does not agree to admit to the council a certain South American nation, that nation shall not be admitted.
Article 24: If the Council votes to remove a member, they may do so if a majority of members vote to remove them.
Article 25: If a signatory wishes to remove themselves from the treaty, they may do so in a biannual meeting.
Article 25.1: If an amount of less than the original signatories remains, the treaty shall be considered as null and void.
Article 26: An invitation is extended to every South American state to sign, from this present date.
The contents of this treaty appear as published.
[x] Juan Antonio Pardo, Colombian Foreign Minister and representative of the Grenadine Confederation on the Rio Conference
[X] Bartolome Mitre, President of the Argentine Republic and representative of the Argentine Confederation on the Rio Conference
[x]Brazilian Foreign Minister and representative of the Empire of Brazil on the Rio Conference
