President Javier Milei delivered a forceful speech at the Mercosur summit, where he questioned the direction of the bloc without euphemisms and called for a deep transformation oriented toward results. With a direct message, he warned that the region faces a clear crossroads: move toward the future or cling to an exhausted model.
Milei welcomed Bolivia, which is participating for the first time, and congratulated Chile on its recent democratic day, highlighting the victory of José Antonio Kast as a regional signal in favor of more open and competitive economies. He then went to the core of the problem: he recalled that institutions are measured by their results and listed Mercosur's unmet objectives. There is no common market, no effective free movement, no real macroeconomic coordination; nor is there regulatory harmonization that facilitates trade. "If there is an oversized and ineffective bureaucracy", he emphasized in contrast.
The President pointed out that intra-zone trade is below historical levels and called for an external tariff that is "simple, modern, and competitive." In that context, he demanded a comprehensive institutional reform to reduce the bloc's economic cost and delivered a central definition: integration must serve trade, not bureaucracy. "Flexibility is an asset, not a threat," he stressed in opposition to regulatory positions.
Milei focused on the region's untapped potential. Energy, critical minerals, and food are abundant, but internal obstacles prevent those resources from being turned into wealth. He stated that the bloc must stop putting up barriers if it wants to unleash its productive capacity, with a forward-looking vision that contrasts with decades of protectionism.
