A State Department delegation met in the Executive Tower with the Secretary of the Presidency, Rodrigo Ferrés.
The government once again showed interest in continuing to advance visa waiver program USAafter a delegation from Department of Stateheaded by the secretary for the Southern Region of the Secretariat of Hemispheric Affairs, Kevin Sullivanwill visit Secretary of the Presidency, Rodrigo Ferrés.
At the meeting last Tuesday in the Executive Tower, in which he was also present Heide B. Fultonthe American ambassador to Uruguaythe issue of visa exemption for Uruguayans was discussed again, as well as a possible reinstallation of an office of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEAfor its acronym in English).
At the beginning of the year, Uruguay had taken a new step towards the visa waiver program USA after he Minister of the Interior, Nicolás Martinelliwill sign next to the Ambassador Fulton a collaboration agreement on border security.
As he himself later said Martinellithis cooperation and information exchange agreement is “one more step towards the visa exemption program” and reflects that “Uruguay is very close to being one of the few countries in the world that will not need a visa to enter USA“.
Likewise, the exchange of innovation between both nations was discussed, after the North American government positively valued that Uruguay was chosen to promote a business accelerator and a network of high-risk capital investors in the region.
The return of the DEA to Uruguay seems distant
In October 2023, the diplomatic representatives of the North American country denied that there was a process to reopen a DEA office in the country, despite the wish expressed then by the former Minister of the Interior, Luis Alberto Heber.
The DEA closed its office in Uruguay in March 2019, a year before the President Luis Lacalle Pou would come to power. On that occasion, USA He assured that the closure of the office was due to a redistribution of resources. The DEA was active in the country in 2012, after returning after leaving in 1994.
Source: Ambito
