Mercosur Summit Spurns Zelensky's US-Sponsored Address

At a press conference, Paraguayan Deputy Foreign Minister Raúl Cano reported that the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) will not host a virtual talk with the president of Ukraine, Vlodymyr Zelensky, due to lack of consensus among its members.

The Ukrainian president had expressed his interest in sending a message to the member countries of the South American economic union, but this request was rejected. The decision must have the approval of the assembly of the regional bloc of South American countries.

“Mercosur takes its decisions by consensus, and there was no consensus to be able to have that talk,” said Cano. “Ukraine has already been informed that there are no conditions to be able to speak, as Mercosur, with Zelensky.”

“The US sponsored franchise promoting Zelensky’s speeches around any major political, international or cultural event is losing traction,” commented Jesús Rodríguez-Espinoza, editor of Venezuelan news outlet Orinoco Tribune. “Everyone knows that a small country like Ukraine does not have the capacity to organize such a franchise unless they have Washington promoting the show for them.”

“Sadly, Paraguay and Uruguay are ruled by far-right governments and they will do anything that the US asks them to,” he added, “as they recently did when they promoted the grounding of a Boeing 747 belonging to Venezuela’s state-owned cargo company EMTRASUR.”

The governments of Argentina and Brazil, through the decisions of their leaders, opposed Zelensky’s request to speak as a guest at the Mercosur summit that begins this Wednesday in the Paraguayan capital of Asunción.

For their part, Paraguay and Uruguay, the other two partners of the regional bloc, agreed to Zelensky’s video address; however, as there was no consensus, the request was rejected.

At the beginning of July, the Uruguayan president, Mario Abdo Benítez, stated that he would consult with his peers about Zelensky’s participation, since decisions in the block are made by consensus.

In fact, Paraguayan foreign minister, Julio César Arriola, explained that Zelensky requested to address a message to the presidents of the Mercosur member countries during the summit held in Paraguay, the country that currently holds the pro tempore presidency of the regional bloc.

Mercosur is composed of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, alongside Venezuela, which is currently suspended, and Bolivia, which is in the admission process.

(RedRadioVE) by Victoria Torres, with Orinoco Tribune content

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/JRE/SL/EF