03/03/2020 - 21:34
- Clarín.com
- Politics
Foreign Minister Felipe Solá said Tuesday that the president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, asked to meet with his Argentine pair, Alberto Fernández , because "he just wanted a picture ".
"I just wanted a photo and talk five minutes aside ," the Argentine official warned when asked about the request of the Brazilian head of state to meet with Fernández during the inauguration ceremony of Luis Lacalle Pou, in Montevideo.
Finally, that meeting did not take place because the event coincided with the act headed by President Fernández to inaugurate the ordinary sessions of the National Congress. The official intention to define another date for the bilateral meeting with Bolsonaro.
Solá argued his questioning by noting that these efforts in Brazil were carried out without considering an "agenda" to discuss the issues shared by both countries.
In this regard, in an interview with the newspaper El País de Uruguay, the Foreign Minister stressed that there are a number of pending issues. "On the part of the foreign ministries there are about 20 points. In almost everything we said nothing, except in the Mercosur and European Union agreements," the official said.
The foreign minister also took distance from Uruguay's position regarding the crisis in Venezuela and clarified that Fernández's government "does not recognize" the president in charge Juan Guaidó.
"We disagree with the position of Uruguay regarding Venezuela. We do not recognize the government of Guaidó . We do not like how governs (Nicolás) Maduro, but that is why we will not fail to recognize that it is a government that was born in democracy and that later he became authoritarian. But winning or losing has to be resolved at the polls, "he said.
Then, he recalled that Uruguay "invited the ambassador and the other did not (the Maduro government). I agree that Maduro may be a provocative presence. But he did not even accept the Venezuelan ambassador to Uruguay ..."
Solá said the goal is to "reduce sanctions against Venezuela, especially those from the United States , and that is not happening." "Without this reduction there is no possible dialogue and without dialogue there is no agreement. We know that Maduro is negotiating with part of the opposition and is moving towards legislative elections," he said.
"Argentina is going to be an interlocutor in all cases. The crisis in Venezuela is very serious," he confirmed
