LatinNews Daily - 12 December 2023

*Uruguay’s President Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou and Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva have inaugurated the first binational airport serving Latin America. The Aeropuerto Internacional de Rivera is located some 10km from the Uruguayan city of Rivera, just across the border from the Brazilian city of Santana do Livramento. The airport will allow both Brazilian and Uruguayan airlines to carry out domestic operations simultaneously, with the aim of boosting the trade flow between both countries. On social media, Lula said the airport was among the topics he discussed with Lacalle Pou in January, stating it would boost “integration and partnership between Brazil and Uruguay”. Paulo Pimenta, the minister for Brazil’s presidential communications secretariat (Secom), stated the airport would make it easier and cheaper for Brazilians to travel to Uruguay, allowing airlines to offer tickets with domestic flight taxes between the two countries.