After the speeches this Saturday at the closing ceremony of Expo Prado 2022, delivered by Gonzalo Valdes Requena Y Fernando Mattospresident of the Rural Association of Uruguay (ARU) and minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries, respectively, The Observer He consulted a group of hierarchs and union leaders about the contents of both messages.
Here is a summary of their considerations:
1 – “Solid speeches”
Álvaro Delgado, Secretary of the Presidency of the Republic
“I think they were two very good speeches, each one focused on its logic. There were coincidences and claims, which is usual in these things. There was a coincidence that agriculture is girding Uruguay, that there are complex international contexts but that agriculture not only contributes economically to Uruguay but also socially and that it spills over. It is enough to visit the interior to see how the agro spills and spills at the first moment. He culminates an exhibition with solid speeches with a lot of depth. With some very reasonable claims and many coincidences, the issue of working on agricultural awareness, on the new rurality, on educational reform. I really liked that the president of the ARU spoke of educational education as a transversal basis for Uruguay”.
2 – “Shorten the emptying of the interior”
Guido Manini Ríos, Senator of the Republic
“The speeches reflect the reality of the agricultural world, a world that is aware of the uncertainties that exist at the global level, that knows of the caution that must be taken given these uncertainties, but above all a world where there is optimism and willingness to continue working and investing to increase production and ensure that the country can have better results. I think we all have to redouble our commitment to shorten the emptying of the interior, which occurs year after year in full view of everyone. We have to be aware that this emptying can become irreversible. People from the countryside who leave their activity hardly return, and that means that all of us who are in political activity have the great challenge of implementing policies that cut this trend once and for all. Bringing comfort to the last corner of the country has to be everyone’s commitment. I think in a way the speeches, the exposure and the optimism that you see reflect that.”
3 – “Missed on the exchange rate”
Pablo Perdomo, president of Federated Agricultural Cooperatives (CAF)
“Between the presidents of the unions we have been exchanging a lot, we are not surprised by where the big issues were, they are things that we have been hearing. We share the allusion to the concern about the issue of accountability. We found it interesting that La Rural put it on the table. The minister’s speech perhaps lacked a bit on the issue of the exchange rate and the exchange delay, how they see it and in turn the issue of costs, fuel and others. In general, the message is shared, it is consistent with what we have been working on and what they have been telling us. On that side, the speeches seemed extremely positive to me.”
4 – “A minister who knows”
Nicolás Pino, president of the Argentine Rural Society
“They were concrete speeches. The president of the Rural made the demands that he believed necessary and the minister rose to the occasion. It is seen that he is a minister who knows the situation of the field in Uruguay”.
5 – “Very intense speeches”
Beatriz Argimón, Vice President of the Republic
“The speeches were very intense, very exhaustive of the national reality, and of course we took with us some of the claims that are traditionally made to us, especially considering that now the Senate is going to have to consider Accountability. We thought it was a day of contributions”.
6 – “More and better rurality”
Fernanda Maldonado, director of the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries
“It was a good speech (that of Valdés Requena), encompassing topics that we have been exchanging. Some points were highlighted, such as all the infrastructure that is taking place in the country, all the economic growth, the drop in unemployment and this push to build more and better rurality. Without a doubt, we have to continue working on other aspects, such as those related to animal welfare. I think it was a very good speech for us authorities, to be in order to help the private sector, in this case the productive sector, and work on issues that we are already doing to contribute to more competitiveness.”
7 – Detractions: “Absolutely disagree”
Ignacio Buffa, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries
“There were two very good speeches, both by the president of the ARU and by Fernando Mattos. The minister reviewed the things that have been achieved, others that are under way, and what is pending in the management of the Executive. The president of the ARU was very firm in some concepts associated, above all, with not changing the rules that this country has, associated with the issue of detractions, in that the president himself, Lacalle Pou, has been very firm because it was not included in the message of the Executive, therefore we absolutely disagree. We also share the agenda of working on everything that is to promote better competitiveness. The minister emphasized what remains to be done, that is very important”.
8 – “A very country speech”
Sebastián Da Silva, agricultural producer and senator of the Republic
“Gonzalo’s (Valdés Requena) was a very cool speech, very clear, very emphatic, a very good review, I liked it a lot. Minister Mattos had the obligation to analyze agriculture from the role of the Executive. The speech of the president of the ARU, I reiterate, was forceful, he made the good and the bad very clear, he highlighted with concrete data the impact of the countryside, the importance of the countryside for economic numbers, if Uruguay is going to grow more than 5 % without tourism will be due to the efforts of the producers”.
9 – “Look beyond politics”
Alfredo Lago, president of the Rice Growers Association
“Gonzalo’s speech was very timely, he pointed out benefits, raised questions, highlighted the position of the unions and in particular of the ARU and I share that it is a time to look beyond politics, beyond the procedures of politics, I felt very represented with what he said. The minister’s was a speech with the position of the government, I had a little more expectations in relation to announcements, particularly considering the reality of the rice sector, I expected something more related to the competitiveness issue, but I understand that they are speeches that usually have a more formal than announcements”.
10 – “Everything was put on the table”
Martín Uría, president of the Rural Federation
“The president of ARU raised what we producers feel, not only the ARU, he put everything on the table, he conveyed what we feel in other institutions in the sector. The minister gave an account of the evolution of the country. Those of us who move within the interior see day by day the momentum that the sector has and transfers, this is clear. That allows us to tell young people that they can think of living from the agricultural sector. We have problems to solve along the way, it’s clear, but for that we have to work together, the unions, the institutions and the government. Both positions, that of the ARU and that of the ministry, are on that path and coincide with what we think about the importance of the productive sector”.
