Luis Lacalle Pou made a strong accusation against CELAC

Thank you, President Alberto Fernández. In your person, I thank all those who have worked in the Pro Tempore Presidency, and I thank the organization and hospitality to your entire team, to all the people who have worked to receive us. Uruguay, as we said last time in Mexico, comes here with a positive vision of CELAC for several reasons, some of which have been highlighted here. Among others, it is a unique instance we have to dialogue with the Caribbean countries and to guarantee that regional balance. Uruguay has already supported the candidacy of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines for the next Pro Tempore Presidency. Our country understands that the integration of the region into the world, insertion into the world, is paramount, and this is a space that has dialogue instances with the European Union, with China, with India, and with the African Union. We do not come here today with speeches of lament. We do not come to lament, nor do we come to look for those responsible, nor do we come with a self-complacent attitude. We come with a discourse of optimism, an optimism based on the things that, for example, the President of Colombia mentioned—a review of the positive characteristics of our region. I would add the freshwater reserve, our oceans, and our intellectual creation. We come then to a discourse of opportunities and planning. But that requires moving to action, among other things to strengthen this instrument and make it reliable. If these forums remain in speeches and are not consistent with multilateral actions and national actions—because each country, to approach shared interests, must take actions—in fact, many of the countries here also participate in other blocs, for example Uruguay in Mercosur, which has its own instances. This is not the moment to mark coincidences or differences, but we do have our duties. We must somehow adapt our national reality so that it matches the speeches we give here in this community. And we often tend to look from CELAC outward, which is fine, but let us look from CELAC inward. The capacity for food generation has been highlighted here, among other things, the possibility of interconnection, the possibility of complementarity in all areas. We all come here inspired by the prosperity of our peoples, surely based on different ideas, perhaps with nuances or even opposite ones, but all are based on representing the national sentiment and striving for our peoples to be prosperous. Would it not be time to make these relationships sincere and for CELAC to promote a free trade zone among our countries, from Mexico to the south of South America? We could advance in that sense because sometimes we generate organizations, we generate institutions, we want to advance when in reality we have the possibilities there to trade freely. Many of our economies are complementary, and I am sure we could advance in that direction. I insist, and it was said a moment ago in one of the speeches: let us practice with action what we say in our speeches. Because for this type of forum to subsist over time, it must generate hope, and hope is generated on the path walked, on the word put into practice, into action. And for these forums to subsist, they cannot have the character of a club of ideological friends. Rather, in variety, change, and alternation will be the strength of this organization, of this forum. At some point, none of us will be here, and we do not know who will succeed us. We do not know what their ideology will be. I do know, and I speak in the name of Uruguay, that whoever comes will represent the national interests and will come here to CELAC to bet on this forum. So the more we give it an ideological tint, the more we risk it. I have heard speeches that I share almost entirely, speeches I share half, and speeches I share almost nothing. But even without sharing them, I understand that our nations must connect. And therefore, beware of the ideological temptation in international forums, because what happens is that when the ideology of one side changes to another, the forums vanish, and then another forum is born, and another, and so on. That is when international law begins to lose trust in the peoples. And that is why moving to action—small steps but in one direction—is better than grand speeches that freeze us under titles of solidarity and other concepts that are very nice but sometimes not put into practice. It was spoken here today several times about the condemnation of the destabilizing actions that occurred in Brazil a few days ago. I believe that all the countries here condemn those actions against Brazil's democracy. Now, we cannot have a hemiplegic vision either. Just now, one of the speakers reviewed the declarations, the 100-point declaration we are going to subscribe to. At the beginning of this declaration, in points three and four, it speaks of respect for democracy, respect for human rights, and care for institutions. Well, clearly there are countries here, and it has already been said, that do not respect democracy, institutions, or human rights. Again, let us not have a hemiplegic vision of the defense of democracy, human rights, and institutions according to ideological profile. And understand this with a positive vision of integration. When Uruguay makes this type of decision to integrate, it does so as a nation, as a state, not as a political party of an ideology. Today it is our turn to be here, it is my turn to be here. In two years, there will be another president pushing for this community to have effective achievements for our peoples. And that is what has inspired us to come to CELAC today, what has inspired us to come to Buenos Aires, once again thanking the hospitality. And you know that you can count on our country for multilateral processes, for integration processes, as long as they truly pursue and achieve the prosperity of our peoples. Thank you very much.