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Asuncion (AFP) – The president of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, proposed for the first time this Thursday that Mercosur jointly analyze a possible Free Trade Agreement with China, before the progress of the Montevideo negotiations with Beijing, at a summit in Asunción full of calls to maintain the block unit.
In a tense geopolitical context in the world, Mercosur is going through its own period of internal turmoil since Uruguay decided to seek a trade agreement with the Asian giant alone, given the lack of progress in the flagship treaty that the southern bloc has negotiated for more two decades with the European Union.
The Uruguayan president, Luis Lacalle Pou, said that “the scant progress in negotiations with the European Union, a natural, historical and future partner” for Mercosur “generates anxiety and uncertainty.”
Lacalle Pou and his Argentine counterpart, Alberto Fernández, have had bitter differences in recent years over Buenos Aires’ refusal to allow Montevideo to negotiate alone with third countries.
Mercosur, which covers some 300 million inhabitants, also includes Brazil and Paraguay as full partners, and has as a rule that trade negotiations are carried out as a bloc and not individually, unless there is the consent of all members.
While Brazil has moderated its position on this controversy, Argentina remains adamant.
“Why don’t we launch the agreement with China together? Why don’t we evaluate it together? This agreement is going to be much stronger,” Fernández launched, referring to the advances announced by Lacalle Pou before the Asunción summit. about his country’s dealings with Beijing.
The Argentine president referred to the trade agreement reached between Mercosur and Singapore, the first of the group with a Southeast Asian country, with a clear allusion to the path taken by Uruguay with China. “Let us not be deluded by the idea of looking for individual solutions. (…) Mercosur must live for many more years. It must live forever,” said Fernández.
together or apart
Before the speech of his Argentine counterpart, Lacalle Pou assured that his country fully intends to invite its Mercosur partners to join a negotiation with China, but at a later stage. And he warned that if Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay decide not to participate, Uruguay will advance anyway.
“It is clear: the back is much wider with Mercosur. In a few days our teams (from Uruguay and China) will be meeting to start negotiating the FTA with China. Of course, at this stage the first thing we intend to do is talk with Mercosur, let’s see if we all go together,” said the Uruguayan president.
“We will speak with the partners and we will invite them,” he emphasized. But if not, “Uruguay will move forward. We are reassured that this does not harm, erode, or break our organization. Mercosur will continue to exist. We understand the other countries, but we ask for understanding in this case,” he insisted.
Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benítez, host of the event, also called for unity.
“The critical global juncture requires concentrating energy more than ever on adopting the posture of joint and shared policies that make it possible to satisfy the needs of our peoples,” he said.
The world economic crisis “demands spaces like Mercosur more than ever,” Abdo Benítez remarked.
This Thursday’s summit in Asunción is the first to be held in person since the Covid-19 pandemic began, although Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro did not attend and sent a video-recorded message.
Lacalle Pou officially received from Abdo Benítez the pro tempore presidency of the group for the next six months.
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