The President of Uruguay, José Mujica, defended President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s administration’s controls on foreign currency exchange yesterday by stating that it would not be detrimental to tourism, while also backing Argentina’s sovereign interests in the disputed Malvinas Islands.
Mujica was awarded an honorary doctorate at the University of Lanús yesterday and was joined by local government officials, including the governor of the province of Buenos Aires, Daniel Scioli.
Mujica asked those gathered at the presentation: “Will somebody outside the continent recognize that the Malvinas are Argentine? Who’s is going to show that Argentina are right?
“The world is not the kingdom of fraternity,” said the President yesterday, adding that “the only possible defence small nations have is to join together to build a refuge for our political and economic clout in the world.”
The neighbouring President also told those gathered at the University that tourists “are going to go swimming anyway,” in reference to fears that controls on foreign exchange would discourage people from travelling this summer.
Mujica was also asked by a local radio to comment on the recent controversial comments made by the former president of Uruguay, Tabaré Vázquez, who said he had contemplated using armed force during a dispute over a pulp mill.
The President assured the press that “the friendship with the Argentine people goes beyond governance…governments come and go but the people remain.”
Source: Buenos Aires Herald