Paraguay asks mea culpa and admits that Latin America is one of the least integrated regions

The president of Paraguay, Santiago Peña, called this Tuesday to make a “mea culpa” and recognize that Latin America and the Mercosurthe block that includes, in addition to their country, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay Bolivia, are from the regions “least integrated in the world”.

“The pandemic crisis of the year 2020-2021, which hit the entire world, the region of the world that hit the hardest was Latin America, we were the region that fell the most. And the explanation is very simple: external shocks affect countries that are less integrated more and South America is one of the regions in the world that is less integrated.”Peña stated.

The president spoke during the opening of the XL Session of the Specialized Meeting of Family Agriculture of Mercosur, which Paraguay hosts for occupying the rotating presidency of this mechanism.

Peña considered that these spaces offer the opportunity to “powerful” to the countries.

“Let’s look not only at our non-tariff barriers, but also at our physical barriers.”, stated the head of state, who is an economist by profession.

Furthermore, he pointed out that the infrastructure “plays a fundamental role“for the small producer and not so much for the businessman”that has access to markets“, “that has economies of scale” and “needs less of that infrastructure that governments provide”.

“But, however, for the small producer, who can sell in a neighboring country, because he has a production record in our country, he often encounters this lack of infrastructure, lack of bridges, border crossings, which often takes months to that this perishable product can reach consumption centers“, lament.

In that sense, he proposed to those attending the meeting that “raise your voice“to defend the role that family farming has, and highlighted that supporting small producers”It’s a good deal for the economy”.

“The small producer consumes 100% of his profit and that generates economic dynamism and that generates greater, as we economists call it, the currency, the money in the street.”, he justified.

The president pointed out that if the commitment is made to focus public policies on supporting small producers, ““This is going to mean a very important income and a very good business for all the economies in our region.”