Joint Communiqué by the Presidents of MERCOSUR member and Associate States

The Presidents of the Federative Republic of Brazil, Michel Temer; of the Republic of Paraguay, Horacio Cartes; and of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, Tabaré Vázquez, as well as the Vice-President of the Argentine Republic, Gabriela Michetti, on behalf of the MERCOSUR Member States; the Vice-President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Álvaro García Linera; and the high-ranking authorities of the Associate States, gathered in Asunción on 18 June 2018, on the occasion of the 52nd Summit of MERCOSUR Presidents:

1.         Reaffirmed their commitment to deepen regional integration in order to contribute to economic development and social inclusion and to the improvement of the quality of life of our citizens and the eradication of hunger and poverty in their territories;

2.         Reiterated the importance of defending and promoting democratic principles and the full force of the rule of law, as well as of protecting, promoting and fully respecting Human Rights and fundamental freedoms as essential conditions for consolidating and strengthening regional integration, acknowledging the work of the MERCOSUR Meeting of High-Level Authorities on Human Rights;

3.         Ratified their firm commitment to political integration as a key tool for facilitating the development of the peoples of the region;

4.         Reaffirmed the commitment of Latin America and the Caribbean as a peace zone, based on respect for International Law and the principles and purposes of the United Nations Charter;

5.         Reviewed the consensus reached and the progress made in this period at several fora of MERCOSUR on political, social and citizen issues and at multilateral fora, and, in that regard:

6.         Reiterated the importance of strengthening women’s comprehensive empowerment as a necessary condition for the equal and fair sustainable development of our nations;

Called for the continuous design and implementation of care policies based on regular “Time-use Surveys”, with a view to drawing attention to women’s economic contribution, valuing unpaid work, in order to secure that their rights are recognized and fully enforced, achieve effective equality and strengthen democracy in the region;

7.         Recognized the work carried out by MERCOSUR Cultural alongside other bodies of the bloc aimed at placing culture as a cross-cutting priority of the integration process and welcomed the importance assigned to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a view to promoting and affording visibility to the contribution of culture to development;

8.         Welcomed the adoption of the Declaration of Asunción “Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development. Leaving no one behind – 2030 Agenda”, which fosters the participation and inclusion of all social bodies of MERCOSUR, joining efforts to achieve the goals of the Social Action Strategic Plan (PEAS), in line with the 2030 Agenda-SDGs, and underscored the importance of the MERCOSUR Social Institute as a technical body serving all social components of the bloc;

9.         Pledged to continue working to strengthen public policies on migration, with a view to including and integrating migrants from the MERCOSUR Member and Associate States, placing a special emphasis on the promotion and protection of human rights and guaranteeing high levels of consular and migration cooperation;

10.      Underscored the importance of education as a fundamental human right and as a factor of economic and social development. In that context, they welcomed the activities carried out during the first half of 2018 by the Education Sector of MERCOSUR and the seminars organized to address the challenges facing secondary education, best practices in early childhood and technical and professional education and training among the countries of the region;

Highlighted the value of mobility and academic exchanges, as well as of the recognition of certificates and diplomas of primary, secondary, technical and higher education and urged the Education Sector of MERCOSUR to continue working on education integration and recognition;

11. Stressed their willingness to coordinate policies and promote harmonization of national regulations on fire arms and ammunition. In that regard, they reiterated their commitment to the prevention, fight against and elimination of the production and illicit trafficking of fire arms, ammunition, explosives and other related materials and expressed their support for initiatives aimed at working jointly and jointly adopting positions among the Member States and Associate States;

12. Reaffirmed the importance of securing the full independence and autonomy of Public Defence Systems at the national, provincial, state and/or department levels, with a view to securing real access to justice for people in vulnerability conditions, so as to guarantee respect for human rights;

13. Reiterated that the world drug problem must be addressed in a broad, comprehensive and balanced fashion, through the efforts and commitment of the countries of the region, under the principle of joint and shared responsibility and considering the operational recommendations contained in the seven thematic areas of the outcome document of the 13th United Nations General Assembly Special Session on the World Drug Problem (UNGASS 2016);

Welcomed the efforts to strengthen initiatives aimed at preventing and fighting against illicit drug trafficking, such as the implementation of electronic surveillance, remote sensor control at borders and nearby areas, effective and timely information exchange and the strengthening of programmes on the prevention and treatment of drug abuse;

14. Highlighted the progress made in the Political and Cooperation pillar within the framework of the MERCOSUR-European Union Partnership Agreement negotiation;

15. Reaffirmed the terms of the “Declaration of the Presidents of the MERCOSUR Member States, the Republic of Bolivia and the Republic of Chile”, signed on 25 June 1996 in Potrero de los Funes, Argentine Republic, known as “Declaration on the Malvinas Islands” and reiterated their support for the legitimate rights of the Argentine Republic in the sovereignty dispute concerning the Question of the Malvinas Islands;

Highlighted the Argentine Government’s willingness to generate an environment for renewed dialogue and greater cooperation with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland that facilitates the resumption of negotiations in order to find a lasting solution to the sovereignty dispute;

16. Acknowledged and thanked the President of the Republic of Paraguay, Horacio Manuel Cartes, and the Paraguayan Government and people for their hospitality.

Press Release No. 258/18