The National Party candidate asked to “honest the relationship” and spoke of the possibility of Uruguay becoming “an associated state.”
The pre-candidate Laura Raffo did not rule out becoming an “associated state” of Mercosur to be able to negotiate unilaterally with other countries.
The presidential candidate for the National Party, Laura Raffo, marked his position regarding the Mercosur and asked to “honest the relationship,” by raising the possibility that Uruguay cease to be a member state and become “an associated state”.
Raffo, who has been growing in the white team, confirmed that his objective is to “go deeper into the area of free trade and have the freedom to negotiate treaties independently with third countries”, in line with the president’s position Luis Lacalle Pou.
During his speech at a breakfast at the Association of Marketing Managers of Uruguay (ADM), the economist considered that it is necessary to “propose to our partners that the Treaty of Asuncion which was signed in 1992, was intended to be fulfilled in stages: first, free trade zone; then, customs union; later, common market.” However, he questioned that “he stayed in stage 1.”
Taking this into account, Raffo called for “a period of one year for our partners to allow us to negotiate these treaties,” alluding to possible progress with China and other countries. However, he did not rule out a partial break, recalling that “the associated states enjoy having a free trade area and do not work in the customs union or in the common market.”
Laura Raffo, against the plebiscite against the social security reform
During his speech, where he highlighted the importance of lowering the cost of living, Raffo focused on the plebiscite promoted by the PIT-CNT to repeal the social security reform and threw a dart at him Broad Front.
“I am concerned about plebiscite, the programmatic bases of the FA and the position that the main competitors have taken internally,” he said when analyzing the opposition.
In a message to the population, the economist maintained that “the Uruguayans They have to understand what this means” and, regarding the risks of the plebiscite, he graphed: “With what the BPS, Only half of social security expenses are covered and the rest is covered by taxes”.
“Therefore, the only way to cover that, in case this reform is repealed, is to increase taxes more and more,” observed the presidential candidate, who stated that if more employer contributions are required from companies, the result It would be hiring fewer workers or firing them. “That is the price of repealing this reform,” she noted.
Source: Ambito
