The last Mercosur summit in this capital in early December was marked by the public controversy between President Luis Lacalle Pou and his Argentine counterpart Alberto Fernández.
The Argentine, who took over the pro-tempore presidency of Mercosur, announced sanctions could be imposed if Uruguay insisted on going it alone with deals that would break the bloc’s rules.
Previously, in 2022, Turkey’s foreign minister was in Uruguay and both governments signed the mandates to negotiate a trade deal.
In July, the South American country’s authorities announced the completion of the pre-feasibility study for a free trade agreement with China.
But there was no progress in negotiations in the months that followed, and Beijing said it will take time and patience.
On December 1, Uruguay presented the declaration of accession to the Trans-Pacific Agreement, which links a dozen countries economically.
The three Mercosur partners (Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay) issued a joint statement expressing their opposition and warning that they could take legal and commercial action.
In 2022, Uruguayan foreign policy attempted to make Mercosur more flexible and make arrangements outside of its scope.
Regional relations remained in poor condition and bilateral deals sought by Uruguayan diplomacy continue to be postponed.
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