MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Paraguay’s next government ‘must debate on whether to remain or abandon Mercosur’
Foreign minister Jose Felix Fernandez Estigarribia said that Paraguay needs an open discussion on whether the country should remain or not in Mercosur, particularly since the issue has become extremely divisive. However the discussion must be addressed by the elected government that takes office in August 2013. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesIs this a question they even need to think about, Mercosur have treated them like shit. I'm surprised they haven't told them to shove it already and linked up with the Chileans.
Dec 17th, 2012 - 10:36 am - Link - Report abuse 0Mercosur is an inward looking economy, whereas Colombia, Peru and Chile are outward looking.
Dec 17th, 2012 - 10:54 am - Link - Report abuse 0The differences are quite startlingly when you compare the two groups. Paraguay has always been quite inward looking and perhaps it is time it starts looking outwards.
Comment removed by the editor.
Dec 17th, 2012 - 11:33 am - Link - Report abuse 0Thanks for that Dany.
Dec 17th, 2012 - 12:09 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Back on topic.
Yes Fernandez is right. Paraguay needs to rethink its place in South America.
Bit of a no-brainer really.
Dec 17th, 2012 - 03:02 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Stay with the nutters of Mercosur or get into the fast lane with Chile.
Condorito, any idea why some parts of south america seem to be stuck in a very 20th century idea of leftist goverment (i mean god, we've seen the mess it made of eastern europe for half a century)?
Dec 17th, 2012 - 03:04 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Cornishair
Dec 17th, 2012 - 06:33 pm - Link - Report abuse 0As I am sure you know...as a direct consequence of the Iberian conquest, Latin America was opened up for plunder, a process that allowed a few to control the wealth and the masses to become poor and uneducated. The Brits replaced the Spanish, then the Americans the Brits, but the process of bleeding the continent continued uninterrupted until the 20th century. As news of the French revolution inspired the independence movements of the early 19th century, the changes in Russia kindled the egalitarian fire in the 20th. Dirty wars and covert meddling wreaked havoc with Latam in the 20th century as people-power movements advanced in upsetting the established order. The result was bloody coups, dictatorships and the crushing of dreams of Latam utopia. As the cold war thawed, the dictatorships came to an end and most of the continent experimented with the free market. The problem was that most countries had (and still have) weak and corrupt institutions – as was true in Eastern Europe - when introduced to the free market you get jungle capitalism and you are almost back to where you started with the Spanish.
So, to answer your question IMHO, most people 40 and over have lived though dictatorships and the worst kind of capitalism and having seen nothing improve are seduced by that unfulfilled socialist dream.
The solution as I see it is all about the strength of institutions. These are the foundations of a country. Economics are secondary. Whether you go left or right makes no difference if you are building your house on straw foundations – you will fail.
In Chile we were lucky: we went from the frying pan to the fire and learned neither were good. We came out the other side with a strong grip on resources and solid institutions. Others were not so lucky and continue to jump from the pan to the fire and back to the pan.
C #6,
Dec 17th, 2012 - 06:34 pm - Link - Report abuse 0because military governments are seen as of the Right - and the Right is seen as military, and anti-military is seen as of the left.
The left is not viewed as that of Eastern Europe, Russia, China, etc.;
it is the Left of Fidel and Cuba, of Bolivarism (strangely), of the charismatic early years of Che Guevara, of anti-USA.
It is supposedly 'of the People', of the poor, of 'hope' .......
.... and, most importantly, it is where the most tractable, proportionately large, populations are that can be used to keep a 'left' in power.
Yes, I agree with Geoff.
Dec 17th, 2012 - 06:39 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Think ...........*..*..........
Dec 17th, 2012 - 06:42 pm - Link - Report abuse 0You don't know Latin America enough,so your comments are the same replicated points.
After recent events Paraguay will probably want out of murcosur, it’s been a hard lesson in whom your friends are.
Dec 17th, 2012 - 08:30 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Not sure how practical it would be for them, as they are now surrounded by murcosur. Which could switch them on and off like a light if they wanted to.
Can’t see any easy answers for Paraguay.
@ 7 -8
Dec 18th, 2012 - 01:16 am - Link - Report abuse 0Great review, is as simple as that. The only difference I find here is that ppl from 40 years or older are usually more optimistic than those of 20-30 years maybe because older ppl have seen the changes and younger ppl have had to deal with the worse crisis. Our older institutions from estatal mixed capitalism are still strong and those mix badly with the new ones more flexible but weaker, but progress has been made. It did help that Zedillo begun the transition both in political and economic ways, now we just need to actualice old institutions and make stronger the younger ones.
I think Paraguay is making the right questions, it needs broarder perspectives and more friends in South America. to stablish a good relationship with Bolivia, Peru and Chile while keeping what is there still of positive from Mercosur would be good steps IMO. Also, great decisión to begin with the need goverment of 2013.
At the end of the day Paraguay will play smart and will kick mercosur off. People and goverments can lie but numbers don´t, so a smart move for this country is shifting to the Pacific. The future is already there.
Dec 18th, 2012 - 02:05 am - Link - Report abuse 0Paraguay, you can leave anytime. I wonder how you will deal with those nasty American agricultural subsidies? Just like Uruguay the last time they tried to negotiate an FTA agreement with the USA? They walked out on the 2 nd day of negotiations.
Dec 18th, 2012 - 03:10 am - Link - Report abuse 0I never realised there was just one other economy to trade with outside of Mercosur. I guess China isn't big on purchasing agricultural products from South America.... hang on!
Dec 18th, 2012 - 06:27 am - Link - Report abuse 0Hmmm considering the US has FTAs with:
Canada
Mexico
Guatemala
Honduras
Nicaragua
Costa Rica
El Salvador
Dominican Republic
Panama
Colombia
Peru
Chile.
Might not be as difficult as some would have us believe.
14:
Dec 18th, 2012 - 12:55 pm - Link - Report abuse 0If Chile has a FTA with USA for agricultural products, why couldn't Paraguay. In fact it would be much easier for Paraguay to negotiate alone without cumbersome, inept Mercosur getting in the way.
And as @15 points out, it is not about 1 FTA with the USA it is about dozens. Chile's fruit exports to US fell about 10% last year, but that was recovered by exporting to Asia (we have FTAs with all Asia's main economies). With half of the world’s population crammed into south east Asia, the question is, why would you NOT want FTAs in place.
15: Exactly.
12: Quite right.
But are you optimistic or pessimistic? ;)
Getting out of murcosur and signing FTA’s should not be a great problem for Paraguay, it’s the logistics I wonder about.
Dec 18th, 2012 - 10:10 pm - Link - Report abuse 0What rights of navigation for shipping does Paraguay have down to, and out of the river plate estuary?
Or are we looking at just flying over or crossing borders with goods.
Given the considerable differences in the respective geographies of the two countries, specifically one has a very long coastline and the other has none, Chile has to be the most unlikely comparison for Paraguay.
16
Dec 18th, 2012 - 11:37 pm - Link - Report abuse 0optimistic but I am on my twenties :)
#7 Great first paragraph, followed by some rationalisations to avoid the obvious, pro-left, conclusions to the processes you summarised so well. I would only add that after all the disasters inflicted by right wing dictatorships and extreme IMF capitalism, the left has proven far better not only at distributing the wealth (as it really should) but also achieving growth in the last 10 years; also that the deep desire for continental unity feeds into the left's popularity...
Dec 23rd, 2012 - 02:25 am - Link - Report abuse 0To #19 How about the human cost of the left they do not create jobs they plunder the wealth of those who produce (Higher taxes) they use all the resources they confiscate property and crimes that go unpunished why? Because most of the crime is on those who have a little more the left have murder more people than any other system they way the murder is crime but that does not count! Thousands of people murder in Venezuela(More crime than Mexico and more murders)) Brazil Argentina Bolivia Paraguay( when Lugo was President) Ecuador all this countries in control of the left the left is a virus that take the thinking brain and make them useless.
Dec 25th, 2012 - 03:36 pm - Link - Report abuse 020 cornelius
Dec 25th, 2012 - 06:17 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Agree 100%.
B_K has always been just short of a six-pack, but since he has returned I think the lobotomy he underwent was a little too radical! LOLs
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