Mercosur foreign ministers to explore US relationship, Covid-19 cooperation on Friday

Felipe Carlos Solá, Argentina's Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship, will join his counterparts from Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay to mark Mercosur's 30th anniversary at an event Friday organized by the Washington DC-based Atlantic Council.

The event - which is organized by the Atlantic Council's Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center - will also feature Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ernesto Araújo, Paraguayan Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Euclides Acevedo Candia, and Francisco Bustillo Bonasso, Uruguay's Minister of Foreign Affairs.

As a bloc, Mercosur represents nearly 300 million people and would be equivalent to the world's 5th largest economy.

Ahead of the event, the Atlantic Council said that the event would explore how Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay can "cooperate on a joint effort towards Covid-19 recovery".

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Additionally, the event will examine how "closer ties between the United States and Mercosur promote understanding and lead to new opportunities for hemispheric prosperity".

Since Joe Biden became President in January, experts have warned that the Mercosur countries are not likely to be the administration's top priorities in Latin America, particularly when compared to Mexico, Central America or Venezuela. 

As a bloc, Mercosur represents nearly 300 million people and would be equivalent to the world's 5th largest economy.

In an interview on Thursday with LPO, Jason Marczak, the director of the Atlantic Council's Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center, said that the event is primarily focused on raising awareness in Washington of Mercosur's geopolitical importance, as well as the economic opportunities in the region.

"The importance of Mercosur in Washington is very much from a commercial perspective," he said. "There are obviously political opportunities and issues with each of the countries, but with Mercosur as an economic block, there are opportunities to explore the ways the United States can facilitate access and commercial opportunities."

Marczak, however, acknowledged that from the perspective of the US government and policymakers in Washington, there are more "burning challenges" that will take priority in the near future.

"Still, Brazil is the largest economy in the hemisphere. Argentina is a top trading partner. These are two countries in particular that are important commercial partners for the United States," he said.

"As the US looks to foster greater partnerships with the region during the recovery from Covid, doing so with Brazil and Argentina is fundamental, particularly as we look to position the United States as the partner of choice for these countries, rather than others around the world," he added.

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Additionally, Marczak said he believes the US will increasingly be in a "better position" to help the Mercosur countries with Covid-19 vaccines and other relief measures in the coming months. "We're really at a critical turning point which creates an opportunity for us to better partner with the rest of the region, and the rest of the world, in so far as vaccine access," he said. "Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay will eventually benefit from access to US-produced vaccines that we'll soon, hopefully, be at a point in which we can help our partners in the hemisphere with."

In the case of Argentina, other experts in Washington have warned that there is unlikely to be significant policy changes from the US government on the horizon.

In an interview with LPO earlier in March, for example, Michael Shifter, the President of the Washington DC-based Inter-American Dialogue, for example, said that in the case of Argentina, there is likely to be "very little" change from the policies of the Trump administration.

"Argentina is mired in economic crisis, and the United States, including Biden, is very happy to be supportive and helpful if Argentina comes up with a coherent and reasonable economic plan to get them out of this hole," he said.

"There's no substitute for Argentina getting its own plan and figuring out how it wants to deal with this," Shifter added. "The Trump administration essentially had the same posture towards Argentina."