MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguayan President has lunch with US lawmakers

Senator Menendez, who chairs the Foreign Relations Committee, has written to Pres. Biden underlining the importance of Ecuador and Uruguay as strategic “allies” in the region.

Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou and Foreign Minister Francisco Bustillo Thursday welcomed a delegation of four US lawmakers at the Presidential Anchorena residence in Colonia. Montevideo's Ambassador to Washington Andrés Durán was also present.

The visiting delegation “highlighted the excellent conditions that Uruguay has as a country to invest,” said Bustillo after the meeting with Senators Tim Kaine, Bob Menendez, Bill Hagerty, and Congressman Tony Cardenas, whose South American tour also includes stops in Chile and Brazil. According to Bustillo, it was an opportunity “for them to get to know the best of our country.”

“The purpose of the visit to Uruguay is to talk with the highest authorities of the government about the state of bilateral relations and the economy”, the Uruguayan embassy in the United States had said in a statement about the meeting.

It also added that “it is expected that part of the agenda will be to evaluate the state of democratic values in the region and to highlight Uruguay's role as an example of stability and democracy in the hemisphere”.

The objective of the South American tour is to “strengthen regional cooperation” with “allies” in “key areas for the development of the peoples of the Americas such as education, economic prosperity, citizen security and the fight against climate change”, according to the United States.

Menendez told US President Joseph Biden in a written message about the importance of building bridges with the governments of Ecuador and Uruguay, which are considered “allies” in the region.

“Basically what mattered to them was to get to know Uruguay, they had all echoed the country we have, they had echoed the excellent relationship that exists between the United States and Uruguay, they had been great advocates of promoting an even better, deeper relationship between the two countries and it was a very good opportunity. They were accompanied by our ambassador to the United States,” Bustillo elaborated.

He added that “what is behind these meetings is none other than to deepen the relationship with the United States and particularly in the commercial aspects”.

The US Embassy in Montevideo informed in a statement that Senators Bob Menendez, from the state of New Jersey, chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, heads the delegation; Tim Kaine, from Virginia; Bill Hagerty, from Tennessee and Representative Tony Cardenas, from California arrived in Uruguay on Wednesday and will stay in the country until Friday.