The President of the Republic, Luis Lacalle Pou, met this Saturday with his Paraguayan counterpart, Mario Abdo Benítez, in Asunción.
As part of the events commemorating the 211th anniversary of Paraguay’s independence, the Uruguayan president was invited by the president, with whom he had last met in February 2021 at the presidential residence in Punta del Este, to be part of an agenda that will keep him in that country until May 15.
The meeting this time took place at the Palacio de López, seat of the Executive Branch, and aspects related to “commercial and cooperation relations” between the two countries were addressed, as reported in the official account of the Paraguayan Presidency.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Julio César Arriola, described the bilateral meeting as a “very broad meeting”. “We discussed issues on the bilateral agenda and Mercosur projections. There was a lot of talk about investment,” said the foreign minister in statements collected by ABC Cardinal.
“We project some issues that have to do with security, taking into account the latest events such as the murder of prosecutor Marcelo Pecci,” Arriola said in relation to the murder of the Paraguayan prosecutor specializing in organized crime while on vacation in Colombia.
In statements to the press during his arrival in Paraguay, the president explained that both countries are affected by drug trafficking to “different degrees,” and highlighted the need for information exchange between the countries to combat crime. “Organized crime is international, especially when we are talking about drug trafficking, where it is produced, where it is consumed and where the ill-gotten money is housed,” he summarized.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Luis Castiglioni, indicated after the official meeting that there is a “great possibility and capacity to complement the economies” and stressed that there is “a firm intention to work together so that this complementation takes place in all areas”. In this sense, he indicated that there are some concrete projects that could be carried out in the short term, such as “the opening of a port that will serve for the great Paracel pulp mill project.”
“There is great interest from President Lacalle Pou to see the production facilities for pork and piglet production, since Uruguay has decided to import Paraguayan pork. This import will increase,” he said.
Lacalle Pou traveled to Paraguay on a Uruguayan Air Force plane and was received together with Foreign Minister Francisco Bustillo on Friday night by Minister Arriola, the director of the State Ceremonial, Julio César Echague; and the Uruguayan ambassador, Fernando Sandin Tusso; at the Presidential Breakwater of the Silvio Pettirossi International Airport.
After his arrival, the Uruguayan president stressed that he has a “very fluid” relationship with his Paraguayan counterpart. “We have been in contact all these complex years of the pandemic, which required a lot of coordination and a lot of joint work. A Pro Tempore Presidency of Mercosur is being carried out, at a very particular moment in the world,” he said in statements collected by the portal of the Presidency of Paraguay.
“You know that Uruguay is making a great effort to open up to the world. We are in one of the most protectionist regions in the world, the fifth most protectionist region in the world, and perhaps there is some nuance with Paraguay, due to its foreign trade, whose composition is different from ours, but we are insistent, like good Uruguayans who we are, over and over again from Mercosur,” he said.
In this sense, the Uruguayan president considered that it is necessary to “modernize” and “become more flexible”. “We are looking to the whole world, because we have a lot of faith as Uruguayans. And we have a lot of faith in our work, in our production, in our industry, in our intellect, to play on the biggest field in the world.”
During the president’s absence, Beatriz Argimón holds the presidency of the Republic, and Senator Graciela Bianchi, the vice-presidency. The president has a trip to the United Kingdom on his international agenda, with a meeting with Prime Minister Boris Johnson, which is scheduled for mid-May, according to Underlined.
