President Luis Lacalle Pou participated in a bilateral meeting at Palacio de López with the president of Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benítez, marking the beginning of the leaders’ agenda. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Paraguay, Julio Arriola, received our president at the Presidential Breakwater of the Silvio Pettirossi International Airport, after his arrival in the country on Friday night as part of his official visit that will last until Sunday, May 15 .
At the meeting they addressed various aspects of trade and cooperation relations. «The president had extended an invitation to us some time ago. Of course, as heads of state, each of us has a fluid personal relationship. We have been in contact all these complex years of the pandemic, which required a lot of coordination and a lot of joint work. He is carrying out a pro tempore presidency of Mercosur, at a very particular moment in the world, “said the Uruguayan president, according to the website of the Paraguayan Presidency.
Lacalle Pou affirmed that Paraguay and Uruguay are friendly nations and that both seek a way out into the world
“We come once again to trust that Paraguay and Uruguay are friendly countries and, furthermore, they are countries that can perfectly complement each other,” said the visiting head of state. Along these lines, he added that our country “has a vocation” to be a partner of Paraguay “in what is going out into the world.” In addition to the fact that Uruguay has in that country “many compatriots who have trusted” in Paraguay “to make their economic life and raise their families,” he deepened.
Finally, the Uruguayan highlighted our country’s interest in opening up to the world, like Paraguay, through the Southern Common Market (Mercosur). “We are in one of the most protectionist regions in the world, the fifth […] and perhaps there is some nuance with Paraguay, due to its foreign trade, which is different in composition from ours, but we are insistent, as good Uruguayans that we are, again and again from Mercosur, “said the hierarch.
In this regard, he added that with this objective “we must modernize, we must be more flexible and we are looking to the whole world, because we have a lot of faith as Uruguayans.”
In addition, the Paraguayan Foreign Minister accompanied Lacalle Pou this morning to the Panteón de los Héroes for a floral offering in tribute to the heroes of the country.
