Lacalle Pou spoke about the arrival of the Argentinians: “Uruguay is a country that generates certainty and gives confidence”

He President of Uruguay Luis Lacalle Pou analyzed the reasons why many Argentines decide to settle in the country they govern.

“Many Argentines who are in Uruguay had their summer residence or spent time here. Uruguay has generated mechanisms of attraction in terms of residence and investments and I think that in a certain way, it may have stimulated some people,” he introduced.

And he detailed: “Uruguay is a country of open doors for Argentines and for all those who want to come and blossom with their family in peace and quiet, to find certainties; all at some point in our lives, when we become adults, we want to project ourselves in the medium and long term, especially when we have a family, it’s something inherent in being human and Uruguay is a country that generates certainty And that gives confidence.”

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In dialogue with journalist Eduardo Feinmann on Miter radio, he explained that there are many families of Argentines who have settled in Montevideo, Maldonado and Punta del Este, among other cities. And in any case he finds a common denominator when he talks to them: they are very happy with the decision taken.

According to official data from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uruguayin 2019 there were 2,042 the number of Argentines who applied for residency, while in 2020 there were 6,816, in 2021 some 12,489 and finally thn 2022, there were 7,209 applications to reside in the Eastern TerritoryI.

Last week, as part of the opening of the sessions of the Congress of Uruguay the president of the eastern country announced a overall tax relief. “On March 2, we are announcing a reduction in taxes, which are mainly for workers. Some changes in the personal redistribution tax, from individuals, to those who are employees, who fight it on a daily basis, those who do not receive state aid. And at the same time we will generate a tax reduction for small and medium enterprises, including monotributistas, who are those who are in the band of formality, ”assured the Uruguayan president.

“It will create a economic relief in the pockets of the people, and it generates a virtuous effect in the area, because these people will not buy treasury bonds or go on a trip abroad, but will pay their bills or go to the store and buy something else, which will reactivate neighborhood economy. We think it’s a very good decision,” he said.

For his part, the president of the neighboring country admitted to having received strong criticism over the measure. “The first review was that for this year we have the money, but can this $150 million tax holiday be cashed in in the next few years? And the economic team integrated it until we had to leave, that is to say in 2025, in the macro figures of Uruguay”.

Likewise, and also on this subject, Lacalle Pou recalled that during the period of the Covid pandemic, no additional tax was applied to the company, but it was applied to a particular group. “We didn’t tax because it was a compromise. If we put a tax on high public and political salaries, like mine, that of senators and ministers. We put two months of this tax, for salaries above two thousand dollars, and then we extended it for an additional month,” he said.

“Fortunately, no one complained. I communicated it to the public unions, before announcing the measure, and obviously nobody likes it but Uruguay understood that it was time to give a boost to solidarity because many expenses were coming, especially for those who had less,” he said.

Lacalle Pou’s desire is to open his country to the world and maintains negotiations with Chinaamong other countries, in order to formalize a Free trade treaty.

Regarding the state of negotiations with the Asian country, the president of the East assured: “Advancing is one thing, and speed is another. He’s moving forward, but maybe the speed of those countries isn’t ours, and we’ll sit down and sign tomorrow. And at the same time, there is legitimate pressure from Mercosur neighbours, mainly Brazil and Argentinaso that Uruguay does not advance in the agreements”.

And he confirmed:We are starting the FTA (Free Trade Agreement) negotiation with China, we are discussing with Turkey, and last year we presented the accession to the Pacific Treaty. These are the three fundamental axes of foreign policy, which have brought some inconvenience to the Mercosur partners.

On this, and more specifically on the sentence of Argentine President Alberto Fernández who declared at the time that “Uruguay wants to cut itself”, Lacalle Pou explained: “I have no intention of arguing with Alberto Fernández, but we were always very clear about what Uruguay needed. We’ve said it in formal multilateral meetings, formal bilateral meetings, and we’ve said it when we were talking in earnest with our pants down while eating barbecue, hand in hand.”

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“Uruguay’s attitude is not ‘I got angry and I took the ball.’ We want all of Mercosur to move forward. Now, there is not much will to move forward from all of Mercosur, and I am not using adjectives, because each country has its interests. But what is notorious is that there is no urgent desire to move forward in agreements with other countries, in this case China,” he said.

Likewise, the president of the neighboring country has confirmed that his country’s intention is not to withdraw from Mercosur. “What we say, We belong to Mercosur and we have no interest in withdrawing from Mercosur, but we are negotiating with China, and when we have an agreement in principle, we will look sideways and say: “Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, let’s go?” I hope they go and if not we will go alone,” he said.

And he concluded on the subject: “I said to Lula: ‘President, you are part of one of the great powers, if you negotiate with China, you will fly away.’ What we will do in the meantime is continue to negotiate with China to see if we can find a solution ourselves.”.

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