MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay agrees to take 8 to 12 Guantanamo prisoners; announcement in 'a couple of weeks'

Apparently the agreement reached does not impose strict conditions for the released

The administration of president Jose Mujica is willing to take eight to twelve of Guantanamo prisoners as refugees in Uruguay and this could happen once the US Senate approves a bill to that purpose, according to sources from the ministerial delegation currently in Washington.

 Likewise the Obama government apparently is prepared to make a 'strong public statement' regarding smoking and its negative impact on health.

On Monday morning Mujica met at the White House with President Obama, and the Guantanamo issue was not mentioned at a previous welcome joint press conference but the Uruguayan leader later in the afternoon with Uruguayan journalists did admit the issue was addressed in private conversation.

However “since it was a private meeting I won't tell you what we talked about”, said Mujica who nevertheless emphasized that Guantanamo prisoners have been jailed for years, no process, no charges, no courts, “so when the president that we criticize and bash every day for having them locked in decides to reverse the situation, it is our moral obligation to help him”.

According to delegation sources the stumbling block which was the US demand that Guantanamo 'terrorists' accepted by Uruguay, (besides being 'non dangerous'), had to remain in the country under constant surveillance, has been ironed out, since the Mujica administration would not take that condition.

The US Senate is expected to pass a bill in the next two to three weeks on the issue which would open the way to help vacate the Guantanamo prison. Uruguay and the US have been holding talks on the issue for months and the idea is that given Mujica's 'moral standing' on human rights, the initiative could bring other countries in the region to follow.

“The president is too intelligent to ask for conditions on the Guantanamo issue but want I can tell you is that Obama wants to leave office with the prison definitively closed”, underlined Mujica.

Nevertheless the issue remains controversial since the Uruguayan opposition is not supportive fearing first-line involvement in a global conflict, and some groupings inside the ruling coalition have preferred to remain silent, indicative of dissent.

On the smoking issue Mujica delegation sources also revealed that the Obama administration would be prepared in the near future to make a public statement on its consequences for public health, costs and the need to save lives, since according to the Uruguayan president annually eight million deaths are related to tobacco.

The statement would also come as a great boost for Uruguay's ongoing litigation with Philip Morris regarding some commercial practices forcibly banned by Uruguay and which are contrary to the terms of an investment protection agreement signed with Switzerland, the country where the tobacco company headquarters are located.

The controversy has reached the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, to a great extent because of Uruguayan solicitors ignoring domestic court timetables (a demand before the case reaches ICSID), and there are fears that as records show usually the private sector prevails over the governments demanded.

In this case the money involved in the demand is 25 million dollars, according to Philip Morris, but there could be other costs, and most important the US tobacco giant wants to make it a lead case in its global fight against the campaigns banning smoking, limiting ads' spaces and outlets.

The issue also has a strong political side since the previous Uruguayan president and oncologist Tabare Vazquez had Uruguay become one of the first countries to strictly limit smoking places and virtually banning all forms of advertising cigarettes.

Vazquez is running for a second mandate next October, and leading in the opinion polls, and an adverse outcome could have an impact on public opinion perception of the efficiency and management capacity of his administration, that of his successor Mujica, despite the good intentions of banning smoking.

According to Mujica, Obama in private told him “governments have an obligation to guide public opinion”, so that “we can expect some political announcement relative to the issue and the litigation”.

Mujica also told the Uruguayan media that the main objective of his trip was to promote trade of the country's 'natural' goods such as beef and lamb (with bone), not exposed to any sort of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, antibiotics and grown in natural pastures. Equally important access to US knowledge, visiting US professors and “propping agreements which are signed by presidents and don't always get the needed attention in the following steps”.

Finally on regional politics, Mujica said he asked Obama to improve relations with Brazil: “Brazil must be considered in its full dimension”.

Relations between Brazil and Washington severely deteriorated following revelations that US was spying on President Dilma Rousseff's cellular phones plus other officials and the country's largest oil corporation Petrobras.

As a result President Rousseff cancelled a visit to the White House last October. However relations are improving and vice-president Joe Biden is expected in Brazil for the World Cup to cheer for the US team and on June 17 will meet with Rousseff.

No mention was made of the Venezuelan situation, but Mujica had anticipated he would bring up the issue in the private meeting. He only referred to the fact that only a minority of the Venezuelan opposition want the Maduro government 'down now', while the majority are prepared to play by the institutional rules.