(From Montevideo, Uruguay) – The relationship between the governments of Uruguay and Argentina changed since December 10, when Javier Milei assumed the presidency. Since then, the president Luis Lacalle Pou has highlighted some decisions made by his Argentine counterpart, in particular the approval of the deepening of the Canal del Port of Montevideo. The Uruguayan has publicly thanked Milei this resolution.
This weekend, interviewed in The Mercury Within the framework of a visit to Chile, Lacalle Pou once again highlighted the link between States. When asked about his relationship with a “outsider” like Milei, the Uruguayan president asked to “clear up the personal particularities of each of the presidentsof the Argentine president and of whom he speaks.
“We have to try to represent our people in the best way and fulfill what we committed to. Just as things went very well with Lula, in these few months of the new government in Argentina we have already achieved two things. One, which is a game changerwhich is something that was being considered 15, 20 years ago, which was dredge the access channel to the port of Montevideo to 14 meters. It is a substantial change,” highlighted Lacalle Pou.
The president of Uruguay He highlighted the attitude of the Argentine government of not turning “its upside down” or blocking that request from Uruguay.. “That, in Uruguayan terms, in terms of what matters to me, which is my country, is a development factor,” she added.
The second point he referred to was open skies agreement that the two countries signed to promote air connectivity. It was finalized at the beginning of June, with the signing of a memorandum of understanding that allows airlines to fly to any destination in the countries, without frequency or capacity restrictions.
“Air connectivity with Argentina, which was fundamental, we had lost. Well, now the open skies policy was signed a few days ago. That is fundamental for Uruguay. So, I think they should judge the relations between governments by what they achieve for each people and not by whether they speak alike or speak differently,” said Lacalle Pou.
In the interview, he also referred to Milei when talking about the Mercosur. One of the main flags of the Uruguayan administration was the push for a more flexible regional bloc, a proposal that until now has not prospered and which has exposed its differences with Alberto Fernandez.
Lacalle Pou said he agrees with Milei’s position that Mercosur works only if it is more open. “I have been taking the jug to the fountain for four and a half years about this, and it still has not broken. And we are going to continue carrying it. But I have had little power of conviction with my Mercosur partners. Apparently, at the time, Bolsonaro was more inclined to open up and Argentina was not. Now it’s the other way around. But Mercosur moves by consensus, not by majorities,” he expressed.
The Uruguayan president has not hesitated to define the Venezuelan regime like a dictatorship and this weekend he again criticized Nicolás Maduro. “From the moment candidates are left out, without reason, without apparent justice, and from the moment observers are rejected, everything suggests that they are not very willing to hold very transparent elections,” questioned Lacalle Pou.
“I believe that authoritarian governments are basically afraid. Fear of leaving power, which should be natural, and they run forward and run over whateverbecause they close all the exit doors themselves. Maduro closed all exit doors“, he pointed. And he once again defined it as a dictatorship: “If he has four legs, barks and wags his tail, he is a dog.”
