MERCOSUR WELCOMES PRESIDENT MACRI

 

Trend of greetings transcends mere politics

A week from now, a new Mercosur summit will be held in Paraguay, the first one attended by the new Argentine president.

For better or worse, the bloc has not been a “hot” news issue for quite some time now, unless it appears linked to specific political issues affecting its member states. The new Argentine president managed to put Mercosur back on the front pages when he threatened to apply the bloc’s “democracy clause” to Venezuela, so as to punish Maduro’s alleged human rights violations. But the Venezuelan leader’s acceptance of his defeat in the December 6 elections made that confrontation unnecessary.

However, some special circumstances surrounding next week’s meeting suggest that perhaps — repeat: perhaps — we might see a departure from the rather uneventful tradition of the Mercosur and discover some changes. Not earth shattering, but nevertheless important.

The first is Macri himself. Many believe that his politics are — in theory — different from those of Mercosur’s heads of state with the possible exception of Paraguay’s Horacio Cartes. But this view might be simplistic.

The sole exception is, obviously, Nicolás Maduro, who has already removed all doubts about his views on Macri. But Venezuela has enough problems of its own to bully Macri. Or to muster Mercosur’s solidarity against him. There might be some noises coming from Paraguay, but the bet is that it will be rhetoric rather than business.

As for the other partners, there seems to be some real business worth paying attention to. In the case of the main partner, Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff made a point of offering Macri red carpet treatment when he visited her as president elect. But the welcome transcended politics.

The powerful Sao Paulo business lobby suddenly found the one Argentine (who happens to be the president) whose ideas they like. Many of them are quite critical of Mercosur, which they consider a barrier rather than a platform from where to expand to the rest of the world. And Macri has already voiced his opinions that it is important for the bloc to start looking at a wider — and more flexible — range of international trade options. Not to mention the fact that his Foreign minister went as far as suggesting that the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas) is not necessarily “a bad word.” A total reverse of the views of those who were in government until last week.

In the case of Uruguay, despite former president Pepe Mujica’s open support for Daniel Scioli, it is assumed that the current President Tabaré Vázquez, let alone the Uruguayan people, expects that the new Argentine president will be friendlier to Uruguay than Néstor and Cristina ever were. There are a number of issues pending between both countries. And it should not be difficult for the new Argentine government to solve quite a few of them.

Others, especially those related with trade, might be more complicated. They depend more on the state of the economy than on political decisions.

But Uruguay’s interest might focus on aspects much wider than bilateral trade. Tabaré Vázquez is determined to use the opportunity of Uruguay’s presidency of the bloc, which begins next week, to “open up” Mercosur. In what seems to be a strong coincidence with Argentina’s new government, there is the view that Mercosur should start reaching towards a wider word (specially the Pacific) in search for trade and investment. The view seems to be “we cannot leave Mercosur because we would have to move Uruguay elsewhere.” But the way in which the bloc is working is far from satisfactory. Especially for the smaller partners.

In the last few years, Mercosur has been almost paralyzed. It remains to be seen if the recent political changes in the region impact on the workings of the bloc.

@andresfederman

CREDITS: BUENOS AIRES HERALD