President of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou| Photo: Walter Paciello/Presidency of Uruguay
Uruguay announced this Wednesday (7), during the meeting of the Common Market Council (CMC) held by teleconference, that it will start talks with countries outside Mercosur to negotiate trade agreements, which until now has been vetoed by the bloc.
“The position of the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Francisco Bustillo) and the Minister of Economy and Finance (Azucena Arbeleche) was to defend the modernization of the bloc through a substantive, agile, dynamic, flexible and permanent agenda of external negotiations”, he said. the Uruguayan government through a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In the note, Uruguay said it understood that decision 32/00, which prohibits the individual signing of agreements by member countries, is not in force because “it was never internalized”.
Read Also
- Camilo and Evaluna Montaner are in Mexico in the company of Indigo May 29, 2022
- Paulo Picchetti: ‘Scenario is more complicated than in other crises’ – ISTOÉ DINHEIRO Sep 25, 2021
- New York cracks down on bank overdraft fees. Will OCC, CFPB follow? Aug 27, 2021
- Indonesia’s largest fleet of taxis teams up to beat ride-hailing apps Apr 13, 2021
- Investing Investors marvel at slippage in fixed income markets – “Few people think long-term interest rates are at a re Jul 20, 2021
- Lille: A fine of 500,000 euros claimed from a sugar refinery, suspected of having polluted the Scheldt Nov 18, 2022
- Hang Seng falls under threat of more US sanctions on Chinese firms Jun 3, 2021
Paraguay, in turn, defended joint Mercosur negotiations with countries outside the group and with other blocs. The Paraguayan Foreign Minister, Euclides Acevedo, appealed during the CMC meeting for the founding rules of the bloc and the objectives established in the Treaty of Asunción, signed 30 years ago. He also stressed the importance of decisions within Mercocul being taken by consensus.
According to sources from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Argentina, which ends its period in the bloc’s rotating presidency, the CMC meeting was attended by the country’s chancellor, Felipe Solá, in addition to Brazilian Carlos Alberto França, Paraguayan Euclides Acevedo and Uruguayan Francisco Bustillo . The chancellor of Bolivia, Rogelio Mayta, also participated as a guest and because his country is in the process of joining the group.
Presidents meeting
This Thursday, the Summit of Heads of State of Mercosur, Associated Countries and Special Guests will be held, also virtually, at which Argentina will officially transfer the biannual presidency to Brazil. The meeting will debate, among other issues, the bloc’s trade strategy, which has generated strong internal divergences in recent months.
Both the host, Argentine President Alberto Fernández, Jair Bolsonaro, Mario Abdo Benítez (Paraguay), and Luis Lacalle Pou (Uruguay) will speak.