The ceremony will take place in Luque, in Greater Asuncion, in the presence of the other presidents of the MERCOSUR member states: Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Bolivia’s Rodrigo Paz, who is serving his first term, and Argentina’s Javier Milei, who announced his absence at the last minute.

Also participating are the presidents of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, and Chile, Jose Antonio Kast, who will also visit Uruguay on July 1.

Foreign Minister Mario Lubetkin told reporters that Uruguay’s presidency will focus on continuity in the implementation of the MERCOSUR-European Union agreement, which entered into force provisionally on May 1.

Uruguay will add the presidency of the South American bloc to its existing presidencies of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), G77+China, and the Brasilia Consensus.

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