Peña: ‘Long road ahead’ for Mercosur integration

Paraguayan presidentelect Santiago Peña defended bloc negotiations within the Mercosur this week, while saying that there is “a long road ahead” in the process of regional integration. Lunching with Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou on Monday after sharing breakfast with President Alberto Fernández in Buenos Aires, Peña told journalists in Montevideo: “Paraguay understands that it will always be better off negotiating as a bloc within Mercosur.” At the same time Peña said that he understood “the frustration of Uruguay,” which for years has been asking Mercosur for greater flexibility to pursue third-party agreements and is currently seeking a free trade agreement with China, causing tensions with its Mercosur partners and warnings that the bloc could break up. “I understand Uruguay’s position very well. Uruguay wants Uruguayans to have access to more markets. That’s what we also want for Paraguayans, whether within or beyond Mercosur. I think that we’re going to be better off within Mercosur, a Mercosur which helps small countries more,” commented Peña. Referring to other regional blocs like Unasur and Prosur, the young economist called for “ideology to be removed” from the relations between countries. As for his Buenos Aires stopover, the 44-yearold highlighted two “strategic issues” he discussed with Fernández: the Hidrovía Paraná-paraguay waterway and the Yacyretá hydro-electric dam. “Working on investments which generate development will be the priority of our government,” tweeted Peña, whose triumph marked the continuation of seven decades of almost uninterrupted power for the right-wing Colorado Party in Paraguay.