The president of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, expressed this Wednesday his commitment to build an “increasingly powerful” Common Market of the South (Mercosur) in collaboration with the government of the Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
“Together (Argentina and Brazil) we are building Mercosur, a heart that we want to be increasingly powerful in terms of trade between partners and boosting trade with other countries and blocs in Latin America and the Caribbean,” Fernández asserted in his inauguration speech. opening of legislative sessions in Congress, the last of his current term.
During his speech, the president of Argentina –the country that holds the pro tempore presidency of Mercosur– also reiterated the need to develop “increasingly” integration instances in the region, citing the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States as examples ( Celac), whose presidency Argentina held until the end of January, and the Union of South American Nations (Unasur).
“If we never stop doing it, even when we were provoked to break Mercosur, how can we not continue on this path, now that a coalition governs in Brazil headed by one of the greatest leaders in history and that is, In addition, an unwavering friend of Argentina?” Fernández affirmed.
In the last speech to open the sessions of his mandate, Fernández argued that, during his years in office, Argentina has developed a foreign policy based on “cooperative multilateralism”, supporting “firmly” world peace and the peaceful solution of the controversies.
According to the president, the South American country “has once again occupied a place in the concert of nations” based on its “identity” and the “defense” of its interests, highlighting its participation in forums such as Celac, Mercosur, the Summit of the Americas, the G20 and the G7.
Fernández also highlighted his “determination” that democracy “expands and is respected” in Latin America, referring to Brazil and Bolivia.
“It was I, with my restraint, who was by Lula’s side when he was unjustly imprisoned and the one who was by Evo Morales’s side (former Bolivian president) when a coup d’état took away the power that his people had given him in the main” , he pointed out.
The head of state arrived at the Legislative Palace, in Buenos Aires, to lead, as established by the Constitution, the traditional presidential speech at the opening ceremony of the 141st regular session of Congress, in which he gave an account of the state of the Nation and of the projects planned for the coming months.
Next October, Argentina will hold general elections for which some opposition politicians, including the mayor of Buenos Aires, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, have confirmed their candidacy or their intentions to run; however, the ruling party has not yet clarified whether the president or vice president will do so.