President Luis Lacalle Pou participated in the 64th summit of presidents and heads of state of the Mercosur in Assumption, where he launched a harsh questioning of the unity within the bloc, by bringing to the table the evident absence of the Argentine president, Javier Milei, after having crossed paths with his Brazilian counterpart, Lula Da Silva.
“If he Mercosur “It is so important that all the presidents should be here. It is important for us, that is why I am here,” said Lacalle Pou in clear reference to the absence of his Argentine counterpart, Javier Mileiand the tensions between him and the Argentine president, Lula da Silva. “It’s not only the message that matters, but also the messenger,” said the president, predicting that it was a comment that he had to express because otherwise “he wouldn’t be himself if he didn’t say it.”
Meanwhile, the president stressed that the Uruguay Yes, he pays attention to the block. “I pay attention to the block.” Mercosur And if we really believe in this bloc, we should all be there,” the president added. In this sense, he added the importance of the union between the countries of the bloc in order to be able to open it, later, to the world. “If we want to stop being the fifth most protectionist region in the world, we have to unite among ourselves and seek union with other blocs,” he said.
New criticism of the Mercosur agreement with the EU
The president has a position, as he has already demonstrated, quite pessimistic regarding the concretization of the agreement between the bloc and the European Union (EU). In this regard, Lacalle Pou recalled that the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, He proposed renegotiating from scratch. “I don’t think it’s logical that after 25 years of patching up and working, we have to renegotiate everything again,” he said.
“I don’t know if it is the European electoral process or the changes we are experiencing and the rulers speaking to their electorate and pressure groups, which is making progress difficult,” said the president, who said that the EU is much less prepared to move forward on the agreement than Mercosur itself, citing the example of the elections in France.
In this sense, Lacalle Pou stated that this type of behavior “makes one think that there is no logical line of progress in the agreement.” “I believe that ideology is harming the union between the Mercosur and the EU”, he added.
The need to open up to the world, specifically to the Asian world
After expressing his pessimism regarding the agreement between Mercosur and the EU, the president again expressed the need to open up to the world and the other business opportunities that the bloc has with other countries, including the United Arab Emirates, a rapprochement achieved by Paraguay.
“I remember that President Peña “asked for the drop,” as they say in my country, to establish some contact with the Emirates and, for that reason, we extended the transfer of the pro tempore presidency because the effort he was making seemed logical to us and, apparently, last week they sat down to talk,” said Lacalle Pou.
On the other hand, he celebrated the presence of the president of Panama, Jose Raul Mulinoat the summit and commented that “surely” they have complementary economies, and also celebrated the possibility of making an agreement with Dominican Republic. “From China to the Dominican Republic, passing through the Emirates, we must open up to the world,” he said.
Regarding the Asian giant, Lacalle Pou again insisted on moving forward with an agreement. “The proposal that we are going to make in the months of the pro tempore presidency is to resume the dialogue mechanism with China. The approach of Uruguay to start bilaterally with China It is not a whim, it is that we need to move forward. If there is no will from the partners to move forward together, let us move forward at different speeds,” Lacalle Pou stressed, referring to the controversy that arose between the former president of Argentina, Alberto Fernandez, who questioned the bilateral progress of Uruguay with China.
Source: Ambito
