UK bets on a “renaissance” of the relationship with Uruguay

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – For an Uruguayan president to cross the Atlantic to land at Heathrow has been rare during the 189 years of bilateral relations between Uruguay and the United Kingdom. Before Luis Lacalle Pou touched British soil and saw the sun in London this Sunday, May 22, only his father had gone as president on an official mission in 1993. Indeed, since the definitive fall of the British Empire in the middle of the last century, the interests of the Crown in the eastern port of the Río de la Plata were completely diluted, although a picture of Lord Ponsonby remained guarding the walls of the Santos Palace to remind the Uruguayan diplomacy of the spirit of the facts. For all these reasons, the British invitation was a pleasant surprise in the Executive Tower, even if it was unclear why.

The UK ambassador in Uruguay has a firm answer for this: “the need to have a broader vision” after the exit from the European Union, as Faye O’Connor explained to El Observador from London. It implies focusing on the United Kingdom’s “predictable friends” -the United States, Europe, and Australia- renewing our gaze and widening the globe. “The exit from the European Union was an opportunity to rethink ourselves and see if we are working and collaborating enough with other aligned countries in the global perspective,” she said.

O’Connor listened to her prime minister’s opening remarks and, as ambassador to Montevideo, spoke to her foreign ministry to “think about Uruguay.”

“We were with Uruguay when it was created; we have many ties, we share values, it is a stable country and an ally of our vision of the world,” she said. For the diplomat, Uruguay is a “partner” and a “friend” to exchange on the growth of green energy, the concern of climate change, the need for free trade, and the imperative to defend democracy and human rights. But this “renaissance of relations” is not only about Uruguay, the ambassador clarified. For example, the United Kingdom is trying to negotiate a Free Trade Agreement with Mexico. And although that option is not on the table in the case of Uruguay -O’Connor says that in that case, they would go through Mercosur since it is not even “100% clear that progress can be made” along the bilateral path-, the United Kingdom has on its agenda a dialogue to try to increase the flow of goods and services “as countries that believe in free markets in an international system with few restrictions” on trade.

The conversations that will take place these days have the objectives of calibrating the speed of the trade dialogue that the Foreign Minister Francisco Bustillo and the Minister of International Trade, Ranil Jayawardena, promoted in September 2021, as well as contributing to a better understanding of the opportunities in both markets. Contact with British companies interested in the region is also planned to achieve this goal.

In addition to the trade agenda, the meeting between Lacalle Pou and Boris Johnson at the round table at 10 Downing Street will discuss cooperation on green energy, an issue that interests both states and in which the British recognize the leadership that Uruguay is having in the region. “We are very interested in sharing our views on moving the world towards more green growth and what we can collaborate on,” said the ambassador.

The inevitable issue of the war in Ukraine will be on the political agenda, especially pointing to how to recreate damaged food supply chains and the Falkland/Malvinas Islands situation. “Whenever we meet with a South American country, be it Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, or Brazil, the Falkland and South Atlantic issue is always on the table. Obviously, these countries are neighbors, and we are very interested in hearing their views,” he said.

Finally, efforts will be made to deepen cooperation in security and intelligence matters, specifically related to the exchange of information. The Intelligence Coordinator, Álvaro Garcé, is part of the delegation and will maintain contact with members of the British services.

MEETING WITH PRINCE CHARLES AND VISIT TO PARLIAMENT

The Uruguayan president will also be received by Prince Charles at Clarence House, the 19th-century palace in St James Park, in the center of London. O’Connor anticipated that it would be a “very intimate meeting”, with the “minimum of protocol” and substantive. The heir to the British throne intends to discuss sustainability and green growth.

Meanwhile, the Uruguayan delegation was invited to the British Parliament to hold a meeting with parliamentarians of different political orientations to “strengthen relations” and not limit the meetings to government authorities.

With information from El Observador