The currency rush of the past week is already evident in the prices of the products and the inflation accumulated in our country no longer concerns only the Argentines. The president of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou, was concerned about his fellow citizens crossing the border to buy: “We have a problem with Argentina because the prices are extremely low“.
“We have some problems in this regard regarding the competitiveness. Each one, depending on the economist you talk to, will tell you how much the dollar should be, but it is true that we have a discrepancy in this sense,” said Luis Lacalle Pou on Tuesday.
And he referred to how this affects Argentina: “We have a problem at the border because the prices of Argentine basic necessities are much lower and of course the residents of coastal cities consume where it is more convenient for them.”
“This generates an imbalance and above all the most penalized are the companies on our border. We have applied some measures, but it is not enough because obviously It’s hard to keep up with Argentina’s economy and its peso-to-dollar ratio“, he added in dialogue with the radio The observer.
On the presidential elections in Argentina, however, the Uruguayan president was asked: “Whoever he is, we will try to get along in the best possible way for the interests of our country. The better things go for Argentina and Brazil, the better things will go for the region and therefore for Uruguay.”
In turn, Lacalle Pou referred to those who change residence and go to live in Uruguay: “During the election campaign we said that our country needed 300,000 more people and we welcome all the people who come to settle now they get the economy going.”
“There are different types of exile and Uruguay is characterized because public security is acceptable, a full democracy and a republic in which the separation of powers is respected and this is good for Uruguay”, concluded the president.
The agenda of the new president of Paraguay with Argentina
In the midst of a scenario that envisaged a hard-fought and uncertain end, Santiago Peña’s unappealable victory in the presidential elections of Paraguay reconfirms the dominance of the Colorado Party in the politics of the neighboring country.
Once the electoral contest is over, the president-elect awaits a series of internal and international challenges, from the resolution of the internal dispute to his party, to the decision he will take on Mercosur and on relations with Taiwan.
The first expectation in the region is what attitude Peña will take towards Mercosur: deepening or seeking agreements abroad. In fact, the leaders of the countries of the bloc were among the first to greet and congratulate Santiago Peña on his victory. Alberto Fernández spoke to the president-elect and later tweeted that “integration is the way”.
Peña said that although Mercosur must be rethought based on the current dynamics of each country, Paraguay’s integration into the world must take place within the regional bloc.
“Sebastián Peña will deepen the idea of Mercosur as a market for all the countries of the bloc”, says the writer and political analyst, Carlos Mateo Balmelli, who rules out that the new president could try to venture out of the bloc.
Source: Clarin
