In a little noticed move, the foreign ministers of nine Latin American countries — including Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela — signed a deal last week that some are heralding as the start of a “United States of South America.” Under a deal signed Monday in Montevideo, Uruguay, the four members of the Mercosur common market — Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay — and the five members of the Andean Community — Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela and Peru — agreed to merge the two economic blocs into one single free-trade area. Full Story