The first meeting of the 64th Summit of Heads of State of Mercosur and Associated States, held this Sunday (7) in Asunción, Paraguay, was marked by an exchange of barbs between the Foreign Ministers of the bloc’s member countries.
While Mauro Vieira, from Brazil, highlighted the importance of strengthening the bloc’s actions, Diana Mondino, from Argentina, said that it is necessary to provide an “adrenaline rush” to advance negotiations directly with other countries in the world, and not just between blocs.
“I believe that Mercosur needs an adrenaline rush. The bloc’s agenda has a high degree of inertia and is moving slowly, given the enormous changes in the world. It’s not that it’s not moving forward, but the world is moving faster,” he said.
Mondino’s opinion was shared by Uruguayan Foreign Minister Omar Paganini, who has already expressed in other Mercosur meetings an interest in making direct bilateral agreements between the country and other nations — mainly China.
Paganini also criticized the bureaucracy imposed even between countries in the bloc for commercial exchanges, mainly the duplicated controls at borders and the lack of recognition of certifications by the countries’ national authorities.
“We began eliminating barriers more than 30 years ago and we recognize that we are still far from being a free trade zone, perhaps not in terms of eliminating tariffs, but rather in terms of administrative, financial and exchange measures with which some member states, or all of them at some point, hinder reciprocal trade,” he pointed out.
On the other hand, Mauro Vieira did not directly comment on Mondino and Paganini’s criticisms, stating only that it is necessary to strengthen Mercosur’s production chains and defend democracy. This point, in particular, was a jab in light of the attempted coup d’état in Bolivia last week – the country is officially joining the bloc at this summit.
“To face global challenges and strengthen our region, we must first strengthen our bloc, with robust institutions, greater integration of our production chains, more cooperation and, above all, with the constant defense of our founding principles: peace and democracy as key elements of the integration process,” he said.
He also recalled the acts of January 8, 2023 to reinforce the need to strengthen democratic institutions in the bloc’s member countries.
Mauro Vieira proposed the creation of a working group on Trade and Gender, proposed by Paraguay and which was reportedly criticized by Argentina. Opposition to mentions of LGBTQIA+ people in texts of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) was also mentioned.
“Brazil supports Paraguay’s proposal to create a sub-working group on Trade and Gender, on which, however, it has not yet been possible to reach consensus. We hope to be able to make more concrete progress in the second half of the year on this issue that is so important to our democracies, which must be increasingly inclusive and egalitarian,” he said.
Furthermore, Vieira emphasized the importance of the Institute of Public Policies on Human Rights (IPPDH) and the Mercosur Social Institute (IMS), calling for more support for their activities. He recalled that the member countries signed the Asunción Protocol in 2005, committing themselves to promote and protect human rights.
“I want to bring to this council, in a clear manner, Brazil’s vision regarding the bloc’s institutionality. We must work constantly and constructively to strengthen, and not to diminish, Mercosur institutions, in particular the bodies that deal with such important issues, such as the Institute of Public Policies on Human Rights (IPPDH) and the Mercosur Social Institute (IMS),” he emphasized.
These issues are expected to be addressed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) this Monday (8) during the plenary session and at lunch with the other leaders, in the early afternoon. On the other hand, Argentine President Javier Milei has already announced that he will not participate in the summit and will be represented by Mondino.
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