Lula arrives in Paraguay for the Mercosur Summit this Tuesday (30)
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva arrived this Tuesday morning (30) in Asunción, capital of Paraguay, to participate in the Mercosur Summit, alongside the other presidents of the commercial bloc.
In addition to Lula, the participation of the host, Santiago Peña, Javier Milei, from Argentina, Yamandú Orsi, from Uruguay, Rodrigo Paz, from Bolivia, as well as the presidents of the bloc's associated states: José Antonio Kast from Chile and Daniel Noboa from Ecuador are confirmed.
The presidential meeting is expected to inaugurate economic association negotiations between the South American bloc and Japan. The aim is to reach an agreement not only oriented towards commercial exchange, but also towards cooperation between the parties.
The meeting takes place at a time of wide diversity in negotiations between the bloc and extra-regional countries. Recently, the bloc signed agreements with the European Union and Efta, formed by Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, and is currently negotiating with Canada, Vietnam, India, the United Arab Emirates and is starting dialogues with the United Kingdom.
However, there are strong divergences in commercial views among Mercosur members. One of them is about how to approach the division of tariff-free export quotas to the eu (European Union). South Americans have until September to inform Europeans about what the quota scheme will be like.
Furthermore, on Monday (29), Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira told the bloc's other foreign ministers that there were "initiatives that go against the spirit" of the bloc and "threaten the maintenance of the common external tariff".
"We have become aware, through regional partners and, sometimes, through the press, of initiatives created outside this Council of Ministers", he said, in a meeting with his peers. "These initiatives are not in line with the decisions that determine joint negotiations with external partners.
Recently, Argentina announced the signing of a trade agreement with the United States. There are still no specific details on the scope of the treaty.
In addition, the country has been pushing for greater flexibility from the bloc, which it claims is closed and would harm its country's economy.
Members of the bloc
Mercosur is currently made up mainly of right-wing presidents. Among the left-wing leaders present this Tuesday (30) will be only Lula and Orsi.
Another announcement from this summit should be the increase in Brazil's contribution to Focem (Mercosur Structural Convergence Fund), created to reduce inequalities between the bloc's countries.
These resources are mainly used to finance infrastructure, sanitation, housing, energy and social projects in Paraguay and Uruguay, the smallest Mercosur countries.
There is also an expectation that the bloc's presidents will issue a statement on Venezuela, which is dealing with the devastating consequences of the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes that left at least 1,700 dead and thousands missing.
Source: CNN