MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Mercosur urges aid for Argentina

Mercosur presidents meeting in Buenos Aires expressed their full solidarity with Argentina and requested multilateral organizations to “understand the complexity” of the country's economic and social problems.

Presidents from Brazil, Fernando Cardoso, Paraguay, Luis González Macchi, Uruguay, Jorge Batlle, plus associate Mercosur members, Chile, Raúl Lagos and Bolivia, Jorge Quiroga signed a joint document in which they plead "international credit organizations to appreciate the aid Argentina needs, closely linked to internal policies that will help economic growth, the only way to make these policies reliable and sustainable".

Brazilian president Cardoso said he openly "supports the need of efficient aid" so Argentina can overcome the current economic and social crisis, adding that this "aid requires an effort from Argentina", which already is "under way".

However he bluntly emphasized that "it's essential this aid reaches Argentina during the current change process, simultaneously, and not after".

Mr. Cardoso said he ignored the existence of a Latinamerican-European financial package for Argentina and stressed that the normal mechanisms for this type of aid is through the "International Monetary Fund".

A top Argentine delegation just recently visited IMF officials in Washington and also met with US Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill, but only returned with praise for the current effort and suggestions for further budget cuts and reforms.

So far IMF has told Argentina to put its finances in order before the release of any aid funds.

Argentine president Eduardo Duhalde thanked Mercosur presidents for their support to stabilize Argentina, which the new administration has described as a "ticking time bomb", whose effects could spill over across the region.