Milei demanded structural reforms in Mercosur and the condemnation of Maduro's regime

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.

The relationship with the European Union was taken as another example of the bloc's slowness. After decades of negotiations, the agreement is still not closed. For Milei, the delay is unacceptable: countries do not have ten years to waste on endless administrative discussions while the world moves forward.

He described Nicolás Maduro's narco-terrorist regime as an "atrocious and inhuman" dictatorship and declared: "This disgrace can't continue to exist on the continent, or it will drag us all down with it." He demanded the release of all political prisoners and of Argentine Nahuel Gallo, who is being held illegally, and he called for respect for the will of the Venezuelan people. He also highlighted the need to combat transnational crime and drug trafficking.

Before the close, Milei reiterated the historic claim to Argentine sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands, which have been illegally occupied by the United Kingdom since 1833, and he requested the bloc's firm support. With a final definition, he summarized his position: "protectionism, bureaucracy, and complacency sank us into stagnation." Argentina decided to leave those recipes for failure behind and called on Mercosur to accompany the change so as not to become an obstacle to the future.