Lacalle Beau’s tense visit to Brazil: Maduro’s criticism of Lula, a missed dinner and two “fundamental” changes in the final document

Montevideo: It was an uncomfortable day Louis Lacalle Poe It feels like a toad from another well was evident in advance, and confirmed in various moments of the Summit of Presidents held yesterday in Brasília on the initiative of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva To reactivate the mechanisms of “integration” in South America as much as possible.

Lacalle Poe already knew that She will share the space with the Head of Government of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro – that he considers a dictator – and that there are several points in the joint declaration that Brasilia hoped that all South American heads of state, among them, would sign Onasor states that Uruguay rejects its commitment to democracy and human rights despite the Venezuelan situation.

Despite all this discomfort was taken for granted and the truth of it Lacalle Pou will not stay for dinner in Alvorada – something that had been arranged in advance and other heads of state had done the same – is something that never goes unnoticed in diplomatic circles, they pointed out Country official sources.

What was also assumed in Uruguay was the clear position that Lacalle Pou would seek to obtain in a 10-minute intervention in which it would be the turn of each of the 11 participants in the summit, and this was published in the case of the President of Uruguay due to picture the same from his cell phone and live via Instagram Live after discovering that Brazilian television would not broadcast any speech other than Lula’s inaugural address, a last-minute change imposed by Itamaraty that upset Montevideo.

Lakale Poe based his brief discourse on three well-distinguished themes. At first, the Uruguayans made their team Preference for concrete “actions”. And it has a tangible effect that can be the result of meetings like yesterday’s meetings, because meetings of these characteristics “take time” for national politics. Along these lines, he later pointed out Issues on the bilateral agenda between Uruguay and Brazil – which in fact have highlighted some progress such as those announced in January on border infrastructure – as well as with Paraguay and Argentina.

Then, as part of his second pivot and repeat once Disagreement with Mercosur MarchLacalle Pou went into one of the key issues of this call: Unassur reactivated – An alliance from which this government withdrew a few days after it assumed power in March 2020 – and was part of it One of the nine points in the draft closing declarationAs mentioned Country in yesterday’s edition.

Lacalle Pou highlighted Potential of the Latin American Integration Association (Aladi) Which in his opinion is “wasted”, as well as the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), all regions that complement or saturate the map of regional interaction to add Onasor, as promoted by Brazil. ‘enough institutions’The Uruguayan asked, quoting the Paraguayan Mario Abdo, who confirmed: “If not, we end up being ideological clubs and they have life or continuity as long as we match the ideologies.”.

The third part of his statement pointed out one of the most critical issues for this government: Maduro visittheir active participation in the event—which included sharing the closing photo of the meeting, though they practically stood on opposite sides—and the warm reception Lula gave him the day before.

The topic was very relevant, as Lacalle Boue explained at the end of his speech, because point 2 of the negotiating statement referred to Everyone’s commitment to “democracy and human rights”concepts that, for the President of Uruguay, should contain a single definition.

At the end of his speech, he asked: “Let’s not waste time.” Life ends, and though some believe it never ends, so do governments“.

The Brasilia Consensus published yesterday at the close of the day left this point 2 unchanged, as did many others whose nuances Uruguay had. But there it was Two “fundamental” amendments to the government.

It was the main thing Omitted in the final text is any mention of Unassur. Thus, when there was a point in the first edition – the sixth – at which recognition of “the contribution of the various integration mechanisms of South America, including UNASUR” was stressed, it was also said that efforts should be directed to reaffirming “the common goal of having a platform in South America For dialogue and agreement to be comprehensive, effective and lasting.” The official statement changed all of that to the following: “They have recognized the importance of maintaining a regular dialogue, with the aim of promoting the integration process in South America and making the region’s voice visible to the world”.

The other modification happened in the next item, which created create “A contact group, chaired by foreign ministers, to assess the experiences of integration mechanisms in South America and develop a road map for South American integration”. What made Uruguay satisfied here was that the 120-day period to produce results for this group was withdrawn – which Lula referred to and circulated in an intermediate version of the draft, as reported yesterday. observer– As well as the need for government representatives to integrate it, and not directly the foreign ministers.

There were also semantic changes in the passages of the text (about nine points) that contributed to the fact of this Uruguay signed the declaration. For example, remove expressions like A multipolar world – What is interpreted in the government as an incorporation of a “left” geopolitical discourse – or “multiple crises”, the latter replaced – as Montevideo suggested – by “challenges”.

But for the front senator Daniel Kagiani It ended up for Kali Poe “giving in and agreeing”, “fuss” previous unfavorable. He claimed “there is no state policy”.

By Joaquin Silva

Country (Uruguay)