RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In the Uruguayan capital, the country’s Foreign Minister Francisco Bustillo received his Brazilian counterpart Carlos França.
The meeting was completed after a lunch, and both officials refrained from making any statements to the press. The brief communiqué only stated that “they addressed current issues related to the international scenario as a whole, to the region and to MERCOSUR.”
The Argentine government perceived this Brazilian “silence” as a commitment, after the meeting that Argentine Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero had with França in Brasilia a few days ago. At that meeting and through other channels, Argentina urged Brazil to refrain from supporting Uruguay’s intention to independently negotiate a trade agreement with China, which is now under evaluation through a feasibility study.
Months ago, when Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou announced during the MERCOSUR Summit of Heads of State that he would seek to negotiate trade agreements bilaterally, the Argentine government vehemently protested.
At that time, Alberto Fernández urged him “not to cut himself off” and “to honor the original commitments.” He was referring to the bloc’s Resolution 32/00, which forces the partners to negotiate the granting of tariff preferences jointly, in order to maintain in force the backbone of the customs union: the Common External Tariff (CET). But Lacalle Pou went ahead and announced that he would seek a trade agreement with China.
Diplomatic sources refrained from any confrontation with Uruguay despite the fact that the same day Lacalle expressed his intention to “cut himself off,” prompting the Argentine President to call for an urgent discussion of a strategy to dissuade the Easterners. Instead, they highlighted the good harmony with Brazil and assured that the strategy is to achieve consensus within the bloc and to reinstate the understanding between the two largest industrial economies of the Southern Cone as MERCOSUR’s cornerstone.
However, not everything has been said on this issue. The Brazilians, in exchange for not siding with Uruguay in its Chinese adventure, demand that Argentina contribute to advance the already open negotiations. In any case, Montevideo has already announced that it will once again raise the issue of “flexibilization” at the summit the presidents will hold in December in Brasilia.