The invitation was public, and it was announced last Thursday the 22nd, when in an inauguration ceremony, President Luis Lacalle Pou stated that he had communicated with former presidents José Mujica and Julio María Sanguinetti to invite them to attend with him the inauguration of the President-elect of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva. Later, and in dialogue with the press, he commented that both accepted the initiative.
“It will not come as a surprise if I tell you that I have some political difference with President Mujica and that I have more coincidences with President Sanguinetti,” he said during his speech. He also stressed that what he seeks is to reflect “the institutional and republican democratic continuity that, in today’s world, few countries around the globe can show.”
“So let’s put aside the political differences, let’s put aside the daily squabbling and try to think big. I think this government has 799 or 800 days left of a lot of work, a lot of effort, a lot of sacrifice, but knowing that after we leave, someone will have to come, that the citizens will choose to continue doing what they it is well done, to change something that is wrong and to do what was never done, because after all that is the very evolution of the individual and of society”, he continued.
Regarding the trip, former President Julio María Sanguinetti approved and welcomed the invitation made by the current Head of State to attend the inauguration of Luiz Inacio. He said on Channel 10 that “There has been a lot of tension in the debate and it is always good to feel that those of us who have a certain historical responsibility can appear showing republican coexistence.”
He added that “I think it is very important as a diplomatic fact. It reveals the recognition of the importance of our relationship with Brazil, historically our largest partner.
For his part, José Mujica, in dialogue with the Desayunos Informales program (Channel 12), stated that “one cannot spend time in politics without having friends from the sidewalk across the street.” Regarding the situation in Brazil, which according to the media in that country, the outgoing president, Jair Bolsonaro, would not be present at the handover ceremony, he said that “he said that in Uruguay “everything possible must be done so that the crack, the differences [políticas] do not become an abyss.”
Mujica, who did not go into details about the last conversation he had with President Lacalle Pou weeks ago, said about the relationship with the president that “the relationship has improved, otherwise he would not have invited me.”
Regarding his relationship with Dr. Julio María Sanguinetti, he pointed out that “My open attitude towards Sanguinetti is generally the same as with all those who participate in politics. With Sanguinetti many things separate us, but age unites us. We are mutually aware of doing everything possible so that the differences do not become an abyss. There is a political attitude that I hope will rub off on you. I had a very strong friendship with Jorge Larrañaga, with Alejandro Achugarry. I still maintain that way of being. My relationship with Lacalle Pou has improved”.
Asked if he has recently held talks with Brazilian President Lula Da Silva, he replied that “I have not spoken with Lula. Lula has international weight and that is unquestionable. Brazil has to carry that weight. International politics is a set of concentric circles and the first thing that we have to worry about is our neighbors”.
It is expected that both Luis Lacalle Pou and José Mujica and Julio María Sanguinetti will travel to the city of Brasilia on Sunday the 1st.
Abdo Benítez travels from Punta del Este
Mario Abdo Benítez, the president of Paraguay, chose Punta del Este as his resting place to spend the new year, and will remain in Uruguay for three days before leaving on January 1 for Brazil, upon the assumption of Lula da Silva as chief of State of that country. The announcement was made by the Paraguayan Foreign Minister, Julio César Arriola, during a press conference, and so far no official meeting between Abdo and President Luis Lacalle Pou has been scheduled, although they will be in the same territory during those dates; although it is not yet ruled out that they meet informally. Likewise, although in the first place it was planned that both presidents would travel together to the assumption of Lula in Brasilia, they will finally attend the protocol act that will officially start the third term of the Brazilian leader. Abdo will arrive on Brazilian soil for the day together with former Paraguayan President Nicanor Duarte Frutos and his chancellor Arriola, where he will not hold bilateral meetings with Lula, who was recently in office at the time, partly because of the strong security operations that will lead the event, but also due to the tight schedule of the first day of the year.
