For Alberto Fernández, the Mercosur pact with the European Union is “essential”

In his last event abroad as president of the Argentine Republic, Alberto Fernández appeared at the 63rd edition of the Mercosur Summit of Heads of State, in Rio de Janeiro and stated that a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between that regional bloc and the European Union (EU) “is essential” but it is necessary “that it serves everyone”. Fernández said that “in this convulsed and shocked world” the Mercosur pact with the European Union “is an agreement, geopolitically speaking, essential so as not to be trapped in the bipolarity of China and the United States.” “But the fact that it is essential requires that it serve all of us, that it is a pact where we all win, because if one is going to win and the rest is going to lose, that is not a good pact,” he clarified. “We all have the same will to make Mercosur strong,” said the president, together with his counterparts from Brazil, Luiz Inácio da Silva; from Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou; Paraguay’s Santiago Peña and Bolivia’s Luis Arce.During his speech, Fernández pointed out that “a new geopolitical debate is being born in the world in which US hegemony is being put in crisis, which clearly began with the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, and continued with the Russia-Ukraine war that involved all of Europe, to a large extent, in spite of Europe.” Describing the international context, the president explained that “Europe is also creaking, because first Brexit broke down, and the war between Ukraine and Russia has put them in a really uncomfortable situation because not only did they lose their main energy supplier, Russia, they also lost one of the largest suppliers of food, Ukraine.” He considered that at the global level “there is no longer an ideological war and what is coming is a huge trade war with two protagonists: one that does not want to give in and feels weaker, which is the United States, and another that feels powerful, which is China” and that “presents itself as the leader of multilateralism”. The President also explained that with the incorporation of Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates, the BRICS (the group of Brazil, China, Russia, India and South Africa) came to represent 44% of the world’s population and 36% of the world’s gross income, and stated that “today they weigh more than the G7”. In the same vein, Fernández spoke about an agreement between the regional bloc and China, and said: “I leave the government with sincere and immense gratitude to Xi Jinping (president of the Asian power) because every time I needed him he was by my side, and helped me again and several times.” “When the pandemic started, he sent me supplies; when we went through the pandemic sending me vaccines; when we had to deal with the lack of dollars for imports; when we had to pay the Fund and we didn’t have dollars; Xi Jinping and China were always helping me, so I believe that we should move forward with China in an agreement with Mercosur that addresses all realities,” he said. The head of state indicated that with the incorporation of Argentina into the BRICS it is possible “to generate a scenario to see how we can achieve these agreements, but there are very asymmetrical situations and we have to get to work one day to see how to solve them” and “that is what we have to work on together”. “That Argentina pays for everything and that others use it and pay nothing doesn’t seem fair to me,” he said. He also called for continuing to promote the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), to analyze the role of the Organization of American States (OAS) in the region, to reformulate multilateral credit organizations, with a focus on IMF surcharges, and called for the lifting of the blockades on Cuba and Venezuela. He also referred to the conflict between Venezuela and Guyana over Essequibo, a territory of 160,000 square kilometers under the control of the latter and whose sovereignty Caracas considers to be its right. “It’s not right. Because there is one thing that Latin America has that sets it apart from the rest of the world. It may be the only region of peace that America has. And we must not let that go to waste. So, whatever effort we can make to bring positions closer together, let’s do it.” Fernández insisted that “everything is happening in the world” and showed his concern because “we still don’t know how far the conflict in Israel goes and how far it escalates” in which there are “20 Argentines kidnapped by Hamas.” In another paragraph, Fernández said “I have the peace of mind that, in the embrace we gave Lula in that small cell (when the Brazilian leader was in prison), we sealed a friendship for life, which effectively will never die, whether we are president or not.” “I want to thank you Lula, for me it is also a joy to finish my term in your company, with your embrace, your words, your love and affection,” he added. During the opening of the Summit, Lula had words of thanks for the Argentine president. “I am personally saddened by the departure of Alberto Fernández, I have an important friendship and I never forget the gesture of visiting me at the headquarters of the Federal Police in 2018, and I will never forget this and I will keep this for the rest of our lives,” he summarized. He continued: “I have a relationship with Argentina. I remember that I met (Raul) Alfonsin, and I even got along well with Argentina when (Carlos) Menem and Fernando Henrique Cardoso were fighting over who had the most friendship with the United States.” In that sense, Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou wished Fernández “luck where he continues his personal and professional life.”

Original source in Spanish