With proposals for the renewal and opening of new free trade agreements with the world, President Jair Bolsonaro and the other presidents of Mercosur and associated nations will celebrate 54th place in Santa Fe, Argentina. Chief of State of the South American bloc, with the objective of consolidating the new direction of the institution.
Today, during the summit of Mercosur, the Argentine president, Maurício Macri, will pass the post of the presidency (rotating position) of Mercosur to Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro. The presidency for the Mercosur Empore is a position held for six months by a state leader from one of the member countries.
In a preparatory session for the summit of heads of state, the ministers of Foreign Affairs of Mercosur and the invited countries met ayer (16) in the same Argentine city to give the final touches to the new dynamics of the South American blockade. . “We are doing very ambitious things”, says Minister of Foreign Affairs Ernesto Araújo, referring to the recent agreement with the European Union and the agreements planned for this year with the AELC (a group of countries formed by Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) y Canada and the year that came with the Republic of Korea.
“Our proposal is to consolidate this new Mercosur. We are renewing [the block] in a large part of Brazilian proposals”, says Araújo. “And we also create very specific advances that will mark a difference in the lives of others”, he added, citing the agreement approved ayer that removes the collection of additional positions for those who use the mobile phone through the roaming system on internal trips of Mercosur. “This involves a very large reduction in costs, business facilitation, including facilitation for the lives of tourists, all those who travel to other countries”, says the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil. However, the elimination of roaming positions in Mercosur depends on the approval of the National Congress of each country.
Speaking about the future agreements that Mercosur will sign, Ernesto Araújo says that the expectations of the Brazilian government are “achieving good agreements for Brazil and other [Mercosur] countries in international trade”.
In addition to the presidents Jair Bolsonaro and Maurício Macri, the presidents of Uruguay, Tabaré Vázquez and Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benítez, will also attend the summit of the Mercosul State Chiefs. The presidents of the associated states will also be present: of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, and of Bolivia, Evo Morales.
Venezuela
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Argentina, Jorge Faurie, said (16) after the meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Mercosur that Venezuela could reincorporate itself into the blockade “when it recovers its democracy completely”. I say, however, that this will take “a very long time”.
Pacific countries
The Secretary of Economic Relations of the Argentine Cancillería, Horacio Reyser, says that Mercosur wants a strategic approach with the Pacific Alliance. The Pacific Alliance is a Latin American trade bloc formally created in 2012 in Chile. My founding members were in Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. Costa Rica joined the group in 2013.
“Nosotros [argentinos] we have free trade with three of the four countries of the Pacific Alliance: Chile, Colombia and Peru”. Monday, there is only a lack of free trade with Mexico.
* With information from the Argentine agency Télam.
Publication: Marina Carvejani.
Author: Brazil Agency
Source: Agricultural News.
