The first international move of the president-elect of Uruguay, Yamandú Orsiis to meet the president of Brazil, Lula da Silvathis Friday. Beyond the two issues that need to be resolvedhis first trip abroad after Sunday’s runoff is a political signal that generated questions from the outgoing government and experts in international relations, considering the South American giant the China of the region.
Bears announced his trip to Brazil Wednesday at a news conference at Executive Tower (the government house) after meeting with the president Luis Lacalle For to start the transition. In his statements, Orsi said that he intends to advance the tender to build a bridge in Yaguarón (a border city between the two countries) and that the dredging of the San Gonzalo canal is completedwhich joins the Uruguayan lagoon Merín and Los Patos.
“Brazil is our China”summarized the advisor of Bears in international affairs Alvaro Padronin statements to Search. One of the priorities in matters of foreign relations is to give priority to this link. ”Let’s reformulate the idea of the ‘stirrup’ to think about how to ‘accompany’ Brazil’s leadership. That’s what this first meeting is about; lay the foundations for a new period of the necessary strategic link“said the advisor.
When consulted about these statements, the Uruguayan Foreign Minister Omar Paganini pointed out that Brazil is a “very important trade partner” for Uruguay, but he considered that the growth of foreign trade should be towards Asia and, in terms of services, towards the United States. “That was our lineup. That is why we understand that we have to look for all opportunities, especially on the Pacific side,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs, interviewed on the program Things in their place of Radio Sarandi.
“Each government organizes its strategy as it sees fit. With Brazil we believe that we must have excellent relations. All infrastructure and connectivity issues are very important – such as bridges, waterways. But trade and investment growth will likely come from elsewhere.”, concluded the chancellor.
In the Foreign Ministry they consider that this first sign of the elected government is a apparent “total alignment” of Orsi’s foreign policy with Brazil, that will not open up too many perspectives, as reported this Friday The Country. In this ministry they point out that these signs are not the most encouraging.
Ignacio Bartesaghian expert in international relations, also questioned this first position of the elected government. “A conceptual and diplomatic error of magnitude. Brazil is not China for Uruguay, the disorientation is total. But of course, then they don’t assume how obvious it is that we are going towards an automatic alignment with Lula,” he wrote on the social network X.
The economist Aldo Lema agreed. “Beyond ideological affinities, beyond considering it that way, it is indeed a big mistake for Uruguay to make explicit ‘Brazil is our China,'” he said.
Lema also criticized that it was a “big mistake and eventual damage to the interests of Uruguay be played in the middle of the Argentine electoral campaign against (Javier) Milei,” he wrote.
This Thursday, Orsi met with the Chinese ambassador to Uruguay, Huang Yazhong, who sent him a letter from President Xi Jingping. In a press conference, the president-elect said that the signing of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China “it is very far away.”
“The world today is in something else. What is clear is that all advances that imply something similar to an FTA involve or must involve the region. In principle, there is a bilateral relationship that must be strengthened and always managed with that double game: working well in the region and being able to go out in search of other agreements with other powerful countries,” he said.
