The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, ruled out that the country joins the regional currency proposed by Brazil and Argentina to stop depending on the dollar, despite his past insistence on the economic integration of America.
“We would not agree on that, for many reasons we have to continue maintaining the dollar as a reference,” said López Obrador in his daily press conference.
His statements come after the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and his Argentine counterpart, Alberto Fernández, defended on Monday that progress be made in a common currency project in South America for commercial transactions.
The proposal, which arose on the eve of the VII Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) that is being held this Tuesday in Argentina, received the support of the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro.
But, questioned about the issue, López Obrador doubted the veracity of the initiative.
“About the currency, I want to clarify something, I am not sure that it is a proposal from Argentina and Brazil, I think that information may be missing. I have not seen anything on this subject, the fact that there is a currency between Brazil and Argentina, no. There is nothing, ”he asserted.
The president indicated that he is concerned “that it is something invented to harm the image of Brazil and Argentina, or to seek confrontation with the United States over the dollar. In other words, there is talk (also), for example, of a currency from China, Russia, and Arab countries, ”he mentioned.
López Obrador’s rejection of a common currency occurs despite the fact that he insisted at the North American Leaders Summit, on January 10, on the need to integrate all of America into a single economic bloc.
The Mexican president even proposed at the 2021 Celac Summit in Mexico that the region should integrate as the European Union did at the time.
Even so, López Obrador was skeptical of the press’s questions about the South American currency.
“Now that I hear what you are saying, which may be true, I think that more information needs to be gathered, maybe it was a project, an approach for the medium, for the long term,” he suggested.
López Obrador is one of the great absentees from Celac, which is being held this Tuesday in Argentina, current president pro tempore, with representatives of the 33 member countries, including about 15 heads of state or government.