After the president Alberto Fernandez urging the forum to think of a joint pact with China, Lacalle Pou seemed defiant when announcing that his country would begin talks in the coming days.
“Our teams will be getting together to start talks and, of course, when that stage is advanced, the first thing we have to do is talk to the Mercosur partners,” Lacalle Pou said at the forum.
“We will talk to the partners and invite them, but if not, Uruguay will advance. We have the peace of mind that this does not violate or break our association,” she added.
China has been seeking for years to strengthen commercial ties with emerging markets of South Americalargely to secure raw materials, such as cereals Y Petroleum, for its own growing economy. Uruguay mainly exports raw materials and cattle.
The Mercosur rules establish that the partner countries negotiate these agreements in consensus.
Internal tensions in Mercosur
Shortly before Lacalle Pou’s intervention, Fernández invited his colleagues to analyze the agreement together and mentioned the position of Paraguaywhich does not have diplomatic relations with China because it has been an ally for more than six decades of Taiwanconsidered by Beijing as a rebel island.
“If there was the possibility of thinking that China could have an agreement with Mercosur, why don’t we analyze it together? Among the four of us, we have a country that has another commercial relationship with China, why don’t we think of that as what we are? , a united space?” Fernandez said.
“We have to assess the impact of each one of the countries,” said the Paraguayan president, Mario Abdo.
Bolsonaro addressed his colleagues through a recorded message in which he listed the bloc’s achievements in the last semester, including the conclusion of a free treaty with Singaporethe first with a country in Southeast Asia.
Uruguay assumed the presidency for the next semester.
Source: Ambito
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