Parliamentarians of Parlasur of the five member countries signed a resolution against the administrative decision of the Argentine Government of Javier Milei which removes funding for the transfer of the delegation to the sessions held by the organization. This fact would prevent Argentines from traveling to the regional parliament summits.
Legislators from the delegations of Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia and Argentina They were against the measure in the sessions held in Asunción and mentioned that Argentine parliamentarians do not receive a diet nor do they have the assistance of advisors or technical teams. “This was the only cost involved in fulfilling Argentina’s commitment to Mercosur,” they said.
The motion was tabled by the Brazilian parliamentarian Celso Rusomanowho warned: “The measure strikes a blow to the multilateral institution that represents the integration aspirations of all the peoples of Mercosur.” He added: “Without the Argentine parliamentarians, our regional parliament is prevented from fulfilling its tasks and from exercising its mission as the highest legislative body of the bloc.”
Article 14 of administrative decision 888/2024, which refers to the “Travel, Accommodation and Ticket Regime”, mentions in its article 14: “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship will report the amount of the contribution corresponding to the Argentine Republic of the annual budget of the Mercosur Parliament according to the contribution criteria established by the Decision of the Common Market Council, in accordance with the provisions of article 20 of the Constitutive Protocol of the Mercosur Parliament”. It is signed by the Foreign Minister Diana Mondino and Chief of Staff Guillermo Francosalthough the decision falls within the scope of the foreign relations portfolio.
The motion approved on Monday, which was signed by 25 parliamentarians from the five member countries, insists on the impact that the measure has on the Argentine democratic system itself: “The absence of the legitimate representatives of the Argentine Nation in our Parliament is unacceptableelected by popular vote, since the measure increases the democratic deficit in the region, compromising the legislative body of our integration process.”
For its part, the parliamentarian elected by Together for Change, Lilia Puigsaid: “Popular representation is a citizen’s right and we are here for those who elected us.” “We are experiencing a process of institutional contempt in Argentina,” he added. Likewise, the Head of the Argentine delegation, Gabriel Fuksexplained that “this decision is linked to a succession of actions by the Argentine government against Mercosur and regional integration.”
Fuks also recalled that in one of the Notes sent to Chief of Staff Guillermo Francos and Foreign Minister Diana Mondino They were asked to “create a working group to find a solution to this institutional situation.” Finally, the Head of the Union for the Homeland bloc, Franco Metazaindicated that “the Foreign Ministry should take urgent note of this situation that directly attacks not only our work but the joint work of all Mercosur countries.” “We are representatives of the Argentine people, Argentina committed to the creation of this body that was ratified by our Congress and, consequently, it is unacceptable that the executive ignores the popular will and the decision of the local legislature,” she said.
The government’s argument is that it should be the Mercosur Parliament that takes charge of these expenses with the contributions that the country makes to the organization. However, the unmentioned detail is that this contribution was not included in this year’s Budget nor in the one that is about to begin to be debated for the period 2025.
The resolution was signed by more than 25 parliamentarians from different countries and party blocs and approved by a majority in the plenary session held this Monday in the city of Asunción, Paraguay.
Source: Ambito
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