The president, who received the pro tempore presidency of the organization from his local colleague, Alberto Fernández, specified at the meeting in the northeastern Puerto Iguazú that he will perfect this mechanism during his administration so that it is “a regional currency of specific reference for regional trade.”, says Página/12.

Lula, who clarified that financial means “will not affect national currencies”, coinciding with the Argentine Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, who called for progress in the use of local currencies in trade, during a meeting the day before with counterparts and headlines of central banks of the entity.

“The use of local currencies -added the local head and candidate for the Presidency- prevents us from being hostages to external shocks and gives us a greater capacity for economic development, much more so when food and energy security issues are part of the global agenda of the next ten years.”

Massa recalled in this regard that this region and this block have a central role to play in protein production and energy supply.

On her side, the Secretary of International Affairs of the Brazilian Ministry of Finance, Tatiana Rosito, assured that the members of Mercosur “will seek to promote the use of local currencies in bilateral trade between countries of the bloc.”

Lula da Silva also promised to “conclude an agreement with the European Union, another of the vital objectives of this Summit,“ which he –he stressed- must be balanced”.

“We have no interest in signing any document that condemns us to the eternal role of exporters of raw materials,” he clarified, a statement in which he was preceded by the Argentine ruler in his inaugural speech.

Fernández called to “preserve the interests” of the region and to relaunch a “balanced” agreement with the European Union, which reverses the “unequal” pact promoted by the government of Mauricio Macri.

“For Argentina, Mercosur is its platform to go out into the world, its main instrument for international integration,” stressed the Argentine president, quoted by Página/12).

This 62nd Summit is the first held in person in the last four years, after the one in 2019, after which the other meetings were held by videoconference, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

ef/rgh/apb