Intent on taking a photo with EU leaders at the appointed time and place, the President of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, It insists on signing the postponed trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union on December 20 in Brasilia. The counteroffer includes his neighbors, who are resisting the timetable set by the Brazilian president, according to what he was able to determine Nationthe meeting of Mercosur presidents was postponed to January 14, in the same city and not in Foz do Iguazú (the place initially planned). A presentation that Argentina and Paraguay will analyze today before giving a final response, and on the cusp of a new crisis between the two countries Mercosur Partners.
A day after he traveled to Montevideo to see his Uruguayan counterpart, Mario LubetkinCounselor Pablo Cerno He will receive his colleague from Paraguay today at San Martin Palace. Ruben Ramirez Lezcano. Lula da Silva’s offer regarding a meeting of presidents and an agreement with the European Union will be at the top of the agenda, in the context of two governments playing side by side, both in the region and in their unconditional alliance with the President of the United States. Donald Trump.
It was Paraguay, as stated Nation Last week, he made clear in an official letter that his country would not be “available” to send its delegation on December 20, and proposed that the leaders’ meeting (and the signing of the agreement with the European Union) be held on December 2, which was the originally scheduled date for the meeting of the regional bloc’s leaders. Argentina supports Paraguay’s position in principle, while the Uruguayan government, which it heads, Yamando Orsi It usually accompanies Brazil positions. “We are ready to sign on December 20,” they said. Nation From the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay.
From Brasilia, they say that changing the date is impossible, because between December 15 and 16, the European Council will decide, unanimously among its 27 member states, to approve the agreement with Mercosur, in an explicit procedure from its headquarters in Brussels. Paraguay, through its coordinator Patricia Frutos Ruiz, proposed finalizing the agreement with the European Union at the ministerial level, with Brazil (interim president of Mercosur) chosen as the venue for the meeting.
The day before yesterday, Lula da Silva said in public statements reported by the EFE agency: “I will do it in Brasilia. I will do it in Brasilia because perhaps we have a problem with Paraguay, which cannot participate on the 20th of this month. Maybe we will celebrate Mercosur, and we will set the date for the Mercosur meeting at the beginning of January, and we will sign on December 20th.”
“If Argentina or Paraguay don’t go, it will hurt all of us as a bloc,” they said from Itamaraty. Hence they suspect that Miley and Peña’s intention (and perhaps Donald Trump’s as well) is not to allow Lula da Silva to retain the laurels of his promotion of the agreement with the EU.
European diplomatic sources confirm that the European Union “will not be ready to sign the agreement before the twentieth of this month,” and for this reason they share the dates proposed by Lula da Silva. But they also stress that “the internal discussions in Mercosur do not concern us,” in an attempt to distance themselves from the discussions taking place in the South American bloc. President of the European Commission, Ursula von der LeyenIt is scheduled to arrive in Brazil on the 20th of this month, without even confirmation of the leaders of the Old Continent who can participate in the invitation.
Behind the discussion of dates lie the differences between Lula and Mili, who, despite the diplomatic efforts of their foreign ministries, have not been able to maintain a smooth bond. They remember in the government that Lula, who met Trump last month, organized the BRICS summit last July, which included China and Russia, in which he tried and succeeded in bringing together the contradictory positions with the North American president. They believe that this past and present strategy, which their veteran advisor will be behind, Celso AmorinHe is seeking to improve his public image, with the aim of achieving re-election in 2026.