After the hard crossing between President Alberto Fernández and his Uruguayan counterpart, Luis Lacalle Pou, the national government warned that that country is seeking a commercial opening “naive and unrestricted” Mercosur and linked these efforts with the “lobby of the agro-export sector.”
“A naive and unrestricted opening, as is the ambition of the productive sectors of Uruguay, It does not suit Argentina because we are going to compete, for example, with South Korea, which is the second most commercially aggressive economy on the planet, “said the Argentine ambassador to the regional bloc, Mariano Kestelboim.
Kestelboim stated this when asked about the moment of tension that was lived this Friday in the virtual summit to commemorate the 30 years of the block and that included an interdict between Fernández and Lacalle Pou.
“Uruguay, through its president, expressed the internal tension they are experiencing. There is a very strong agro-export sector that lobbies to try to get more markets, and the position in Argentina is different, there are productive sectors that generate quality employment, industrial sectors that generate employment, “said the permanent representative of Argentina during an interview with the Public TV.
Mariano Kestelboim, Ambassador of the Alberto Fernández government in Mercosur.
Kestelboim considered that in this context the crossing between Lacalle Pou took place, who claimed that the “Mercosur is not a burden” and that agreements with other commercial blocs be advanced.
Even the president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, also took advantage of the virtual event to ask for greater commercial opening, despite the conditions posed by Argentina.
And in response, Fernández told his partners: “We don’t want to be a drag on anyone. If we are a drag, let them take another boat“.
“You have to be careful, you have to do a smart opening based on the needs of productive development, income distribution and job creation, “Kestelboim appealed.
He reiterated that “opening up in a naive way for the national government is not the best”, but considered that “in the other economies, especially in Brazil, there are also opposing positions.”
“There is an agro-export sector that ignores the needs of productive industrial development,” he said about the country presided over by Bolsonaro.
In addition, Kestelboim rejected the possibility of advancing with this type of opening in the “context of a pandemic, where productive capacities have been noted to be very important, fundamental, for the development of peoples.” And I add: “Abandoning them does not seem to us the best criterion”.
Finally, he was confident in overcoming the differences because, he recalled, “Mercosur always prevailed the union and there are no differences that may be unsolvable.”
LM
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source https://pledgetimes.com/the-national-government-now-warns-that-uruguay-seeks-a-naive-and-unrestricted-opening-of-mercosur/
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