LatinNews Daily - 14 June 2023

* Uruguay’s President Luis Lacalle Pou has met US President Joe Biden in Washington at the White House. According to a press release by Uruguay’s presidency, the two mainly discussed trade-related issues. They discussed the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (APEP), an initiative unveiled in June 2022 by the Biden administration which pledges to deepen economic cooperation with the entire Western Hemisphere, and “how to strengthen this mechanism to channel more trade and investment towards Uruguay”. According to the same press release the two also discussed a new legislative bill introduced yesterday in the US senate which is the first exclusively focused on strengthening the partnership between the US and Uruguay. The so-called US Uruguay Economic Partnership Act would make Uruguay eligible for trade preferences under the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act and for trade and investment related visas. A White House readout of the Lacalle Pou-Biden meeting notes that Biden “applauded” Lacalle Pou for his commitment to ensure the APEP “accelerates regional integration, inclusive economic prosperity, and greater opportunity through sustainable trade and investment”, and that the two leaders “explored ways to expand [their] bilateral economic relationship, increase joint efforts to combat climate change, and further strengthen security cooperation”. According to the same source, during the meeting Biden “lauded Uruguay as a regional and global model for democratic governance” and applauded Lacalle Pou for his “support for Ukraine and his principled defence for fundamental freedoms in Venezuela”.