The President of the Republic Luis Lacalle Pou received his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva, at Suárez’s residence in Montevideo.
“We belong to Mercosur and we have that vocation unchanged,” he reaffirmed at the end of the meeting. Lacalle Pou called for a “modern, flexible and open to the world” regional bloc. Foreign Minister Francisco Bustillo and his Brazilian counterpart, Mauro Viera, were present.
“We ended an intense and extensive meeting, as we like to have meetings with the leaders, directly stating what the interests of our peoples are, clear of ideologies, simply trying to agree on what our nations need,” said Lacalle Pou in the joint statement with his Brazilian counterpart, Da Silva, at the end of the meeting.
The trade balance between the two countries and the improvement of Mercosur were two of the points addressed. Regarding the latter, Lacalle Pou asserted that the nuances of difference were put aside for the two nations to advance as members of the regional bloc.
The Head of State highlighted Uruguay’s “need” to “open up to the world” and “try to do it with all of Mercosur”. In this sense, he confirmed that the country is “with its negotiations” and “has no impediment in informing” the members of the bloc of the content of the negotiations.
He announced that a technical team will be formed with representatives of both nations, an invitation that will be extended to experts from Argentina and Paraguay, to determine what “we really need from our relationship with China.”
Lacalle Pou recognized the economic and demographic weight of Brazil as very important and added: If there is a definition of the government of that country in advancing in the negotiations with the Asian, “we will be able to fold, if it really agrees with the needs of our country ”.
He reiterated that Uruguay maintains a dialogue with China and, in parallel, Brazil will deepen or start another path. In time, it will be evaluated whether Mercosur will begin a joint negotiation in pursuit of a free trade agreement or Uruguay will join the negotiations with the northern government. “We belong to Mercosur and we have that vocation unchanged. Modern, flexible and open to the world”, he underlined.
