Buenos Aires. In a virtual summit meeting hat Last Wednesday the Argentine President Alberto Fernández officially assumed the chairmanship of the economic community “Common Market of the South” (Mercado Común del Sur, Mercosur) for the next six months. Argentina undertakes to resume negotiations on a common internal market between the member states, to implement the trade agreement with the European Union that has been due since June 2019, to accept Bolivia as a full member of the community and to modernize specific structures of the economic bloc.
The Argentine Foreign Minister, Felipe Solá, also suggested revitalizing an economic forum and finding new ways “that our union leaders and our social movements could be involved within this forum”.
Regarding the accession efforts for Bolivia, Solá said that the admission of Bolivia was “a special wish of Argentina” and he assumed that this would be shared by the other member states. Brazil’s President, Jair Bolsonaro, confirmedthat his country is interested in ever more intensive regional integration and is committed to “modernizing and opening up the economy”.
In response to Bolsonaro’s statement on economic opening, President Fernández ‘ Explanation interpreted that there is “no successful regional integration with a failed social integration” and “no robust regional economy with an undernourished internal economy”.
The day before the summit between the full members of Mercosur and its associative members, however, a conflict between Argentina and Brazil was the focus. It concerns punitive measures against Venezuela because of the parliamentary elections on December 6th, which are not recognized by the US, its allies in Latin America and the EU.
Brazil’s Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo spoke of the “harmful shadow of the Venezuelan dictatorship” in the region and described the government of President Nicolás Maduros as “totalitarian”. He added suggested that “Venezuela would be turned into a platform for organized crime by the dictatorial regime”.
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In contrast, Argentina and Bolivia recognize Maduro as the official head of state. Bolsonaro expressed also indirectly to Venezuela, noting that Mercosur must “proactively defend the freedoms of the region”.
During the summit, however, the Brazilian president also used conciliatory tones towards Fernández, with whom he has a difficult relationship: “Let us take a pragmatic approach to overcoming our differences,” said Bolsonaro. Fernández can “count on Brazil to maintain the dialogue” and Mercosur into one Instrument to make for members in order to achieve sustainable economic growth.
Araújo sent statements pointing to the positive development of the signing of the free trade agreement with the European Union, confirming that Brazil is fulfilling its “commitment to the environment and sustainable development”.
The Foreign Minister of Uruguay, Fernando Bustillo, whose country presided over the Mercosur until Wednesday, pointed indicated that his government preferred flexible negotiation with third countries at various speeds. This should prevent Mercosur from becoming “an obstacle to the needs and interests” of the individual member countries.
Paraguay’s President Mario Abdo Benítez, on the other hand stressed the need to “improve the infrastructure of the bloc countries”, especially in the area of food production, “as this will be in great demand for the process of recovery from the Covid-19 crisis”.
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