Far from its founding objective of promoting regional integration, the Mercosur summit held this Monday in Asunción brought to light the differences between South American governments. In particular, with the president of Argentina, Javier Milei, the great absentee at the meeting, facing off with the presidents of Bolivia, Luis Arce, and Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The ultra-right-wing Milei snubbed his peers in the region and participated on Sunday in a conservative forum in Brazil, where he met with the former president of that country, Jair Bolsonaro. In this context, Mercosur was unable to agree on a final declaration. The encouraging fact for South American integration was the progress in the incorporation of Bolivia into the organization made up of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
In the Paraguayan capital, the 64th summit of the Common Market of the South brought together host Santiago Peña with Lula da Silva, Uruguayan Luis Lacalle Pou and Bolivian Luis Arce. The president of Panama, José Raúl Mulino, was also invited. The central themes of the meeting were the trade agreements being discussed with the European Union, with China, with the United Arab Emirates, the powers of member countries to negotiate on their own or not, but the absence of Milei, representative of the second largest economy in the region, colored the speeches.
“If Mercosur is so important, all the presidents should be here,” said Lacalle Pou, who assumes the pro tempore presidency of the regional body, without nuances. Before, Peña had tried unsuccessfully to ease the tension. “I could not get President Milei to come. We have to be respectful of each country, but the integration process does not stop,” the Paraguayan chose to emphasize.
Milei has made public his disdain for international organizations and is committed to bilateral relations that interest him. In recent weeks, he deepened the tension with Lula: he again called him a “communist” and “corrupt” in response to his request for an apology. Then, he traveled to Brazil to meet with Bolsonaro, Lula’s main political rival. In parallel, and after having faced off with other presidents in the region — such as Colombian Gustavo Petro, Chilean Gabriel Boric or Mexican Andrés Manuel López Obrador — Milei also crossed paths with Arce, considering the military uprising that threatened the Bolivian government on June 26 to be a “self-coup.”
Although he did not mention it, Lula’s speech included allusions to Milei. The Brazilian called for strengthening democracy in the region after the attempted coup in Bolivia. “We must remain vigilant. False democrats are trying to undermine institutions and put them at the service of reactionary interests,” said Lula. He then criticized the inequalities that plague South America and stressed that democracy and development “go hand in hand.” He said that it makes no sense to resort to an “archaic and isolationist nationalism” and neither does it make sense to revive “ultra-liberal experiences that only worsened inequalities in our region.” Both the reference to “false democrats” and “ultra-liberals” seemed to be aimed at Milei.
“We need a deep regional integration, based on qualified work and the production of science, technology and innovation to generate jobs and income,” said Lula. The Brazilian president highlighted the entry of Bolivia as a full member of the bloc and described it as “strategic” due to its important role in the energy sector. The State of Bolivia has already approved its incorporation into Mercosur and now only administrative procedures are needed for it to become a full member of the organization. This Monday, after the summit in Asunción, Lula was scheduled to travel to Bolivian territory to meet with Arce and express his support, days after the coup attempt.
The absent Milei sent his foreign minister, Diana Mondino, as his representative. At the summit, the minister sought to reaffirm Argentina’s membership, “of which there never was and never will be any doubts,” she said. She assured that Mercosur has “an enormous potential as an expanded market and platform for relations with the world,” but she considered that it is being wasted: “I think that Mercosur is in need of, I don’t know, an adrenaline rush.”
Internal differences prevented the summit from concluding with a joint declaration by the presidents.
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