President Luis Lacalle Pou appeared publicly for the first time after the scandal broke out around the delivery of the Uruguayan passport to Sebastian Marset, within the framework of the forum Responsible Investment of the Alliance of the Americasof which he participates in USA at the invitation of the president of that country, Joe Biden. However, he did not mention the controversy that is shaking the government, but instead highlighted Uruguay for “its strong institutions” and for being “one of the strongest democracies in the world.”
The president, who will maintain his agenda as planned and will return to the country only on Saturday, was the first to speak in a discussion on strategic opportunities for trade and investment provided by greater regional integration offered by the program for Americas of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
There, he referred to the interest of USA for the economic integration of the continent, exemplified in “President Biden’s initiative” to organize the first summit of the Alliance for Economic Prosperity of the Americas (APEP). “Our countries make an attempt to open up to the world, sometimes with good results and sometimes they are ‘baby steps’, but when the president of the United States establishes an agenda, he moves the rest,” he noted. Lacalle Pou.
During his presentation, and although he was not expected to refer directly to the controversy that broke out in national lands around the Marset case —and that already implied the resignation of the chancellor Francisco Bustillo—, The president pointed out as one of the “aptitudes and conditions” of Uruguay to “its strong institutions and being one of the strongest democracies in the world.”
However, his statements contradict the current scenario in Uruguay, where the government could be on the verge of a major institutional crisis, with accusations towards the head of state included by the leader of Town meeting and partner of the Multicolor Coalition, Guido Manini Ríos. These, in any case, will be issues that he will have to address on Saturday upon his return, despite lobbyists and Frente Amplistas demanding that he return to the country immediately.
Uruguay, with optimism in its relationship with the United States
During his presentation, Lacalle Pou He also highlighted that the country “has a inflation go down, the unemployment has gone down, the foreign direct investment multiplied last year by 150% and the profits were reinvested in our country by 41%, this is a very big sign of confidence.”
However, he questioned that, in the face of a nation’s good progress, “they remove you from the generalized preference system, they remove you from some organizations due to the issue of cooperation.” Given this, “one asks: Is it worth doing things well?” she continued.
“The answer is clear: it is worth doing things right for your people. Because if there is human development you are achieving your goals. What we talked about with other leaders and with President Biden is that the body, the elbow, must be taken care of when it is healthy, not when it is broken. Because when it is broken you have to fix it, and it no longer remains the same. So, Uruguay It is a country to bet on, where those who arrive stay,” he explained.
“I have regained optimism in our relationship with the USA, We were a little left out, perhaps we complained more. “It’s not begging for things, it’s that Uruguay has a lot to give to the world,” he concluded.
Source: Ambito
