Ecuador: President Moreno Offers Unasur HQ to Indigenous Uni

Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno has offered the use of Unasur's US$43 million Quito headquarters to an Indigenous university as questions over the regional body's immediate future continue to arise.

RELATED: 
Ecuador's President Moreno: 'Unasur Must Surrender Quito HQ'

Speaking to international media on July 5, Moreno said he had offered the 19,533 square meter property to the Intercultural University of the Amawtay Wasi Indigenous Nationalities and Peoples.

Earlier that day, Moreno had ordered the Union of South American Nations to hand over the building, which has been home to the regional integration bloc since its 2011 inception.

"Because if you're not doing anything, that building is leftover," Moreno said, noting that a new headquarters would be found for Unasur, which "will at some time revive."

The move is the latest in an ongoing spat between Unasur member states, triggered by its failure to effectively negotiate new leadership in recent months.

Since then, half the member states have announced their intentions to withdraw from the regional bloc, which supporters describe as vital in counterbalancing U.S. influence in Latin America.

Unasur, a project of regional economic and political integration, was championed by progressive leaders such as former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and former Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa.