WHAT IS HE LOOKING FOR IN A DISTANT COUNTRY?

The intensification of comprehensive cooperation with Azerbaijan became the leitmotif of the visit to Baku by the special envoy of the president of Uruguay, or officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, Secretary of the Presidential Office Diego Canepa. At a meeting with the president of Azerbaijan on 19 January, Diego Canepa, without further ado, said the president and the government of Uruguay had given him a direct order to exchange views on the development of bilateral and multilateral relations with Azerbaijan and prospects for cooperation.

Moreover, during the meeting, the Uruguayan envoy gave the Azerbaijani head of state a personal message from Uruguay's President Jose Mujica. Although its content was not officially publicized, its essence is easy to guess. Analysis of relations between the two countries in the recent period suggests that the South American country is serious about enhancing relations with Azerbaijan and to this end, is ready to eliminate some of the problems of a political nature, which appeared in bilateral relations.

"I hope that our relationship will continue to deepen. In my view, all conditions are right for that, and I hope that our countries can quickly overcome the misunderstanding that occurred in the recent past," Uruguayan MP Daniel Martinez told us. The "misunderstanding", which the South American MP mentioned, really seriously marred bilateral relations that had only just entered a stage of active development. We are talking about an unexpected visit to Armenian-occupied Nagornyy Karabakh by a delegation headed by the chairman of the House of Representatives of Uruguay Parliament Jorge Orrico, who even promised at meetings with representatives of the local separatist regime to work on the recognition by Montevideo of the independence of the region, which is considered an integral part of Azerbaijan at the international level. What else can be expected if they were the first in the world to recognize the "Armenian genocide" in 1965? Although the reasons for the visit of the Uruguayan deputies were obvious to the expert community of Azerbaijan (the Armenian diaspora, which is traditionally strong in Latin America, constantly uses all sorts of ways to encourage visits to the occupied lands of Azerbaijan in an attempt to legitimize the separatist regime), Baku took this ill-considered step by the Uruguayan side seriously and sent a note of protest to the other side of the ocean. Later, in response to the note, the authorities of Uruguay tried to smooth over the incident. The latest visit by the special envoy of the Uruguayan president should be seen in this light. As can be seen, the Uruguayan authorities realized that partnership with economically strong Azerbaijan, which is the locomotive of the region, is much more important than the selfish interests of the Armenian diaspora and individual parliamentarians. Apparently, during the visit Diego Canepa tried to assure the leadership of Azerbaijan that state interests are above everything else for his country.

At meetings in Baku, Canepa made every effort to assure the Azerbaijani government of this and move bilateral cooperation from the political into the economic sphere. In particular, he noted that he had extensive information about major projects being implemented in the South Caucasus and Central Asia and said that his country is interested in expanding bilateral ties in various fields that have good prospects. The Foreign Ministry stressed to the Uruguayan guest the importance of studying areas that are most appropriate for investment. Azerbaijani investments are the main subject of interest to the Uruguayan side. Experiencing difficult times in the economy, Uruguay seems to be really impressed with the investment potential of the distant, but economically very promising South Caucasian republic. Moreover, you do not have to look far for examples of the size of investment Azerbaijan is able to make in a country of interest regardless of its location. A graphic example is Mexico, which is located in the same Latin American continent. According to some reports, the cost of Azerbaijani projects in this country is about $ 4 billion. Montevideo is encouraged by this example and seriously expects large Azerbaijani investments in the Uruguayan economy. Why not entertain such hopes - after all, a significant role in the economy of Uruguay, as well as Mexico, is played by agriculture, which is in dire need of investment.

And what is the interest of Azerbaijan in Uruguay apart from investment projects? Uruguay's economy is oriented to the export of agricultural produce (agricultural land covers about 9/10 of the country) and fishing. The basis of the country's imports is crude oil and petroleum products, industrial machinery and equipment, chemical products, and there are also broad prospects for cooperation with Azerbaijan here with its oil and petrochemical industry.

Last year, the parties began to discuss possibilities of cooperation in the economy, energy, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and information technology on mutually beneficial trade and investment conditions.

A variety of specialized areas of potential cooperation can also be considered promising. For example, the Uruguayan side is attracted by Azerbaijan's experience in disaster management. During his visit to Baku, the Uruguayan president's envoy Canepa specifically met with Azerbaijani Emergencies Minister Kamaladdin Heydarov and noted the presence of good opportunities for the development of relations between the state structures of the two countries.

However, we cannot forget about politics either. In recent years, one cannot ignore the activities of Azerbaijani diplomacy in Latin America.

Increasing interaction with Latin America is of particular importance, given that the Azerbaijani president sets the task to further strengthen Azerbaijan's diplomacy and expand the geography of its activities, especially when it comes to a region with a large and strong Armenian diaspora and lobby. As a result, in 2012, the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan seriously engaged in strengthening ties with Latin America - a region with which relations were not particularly active. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov's official visit to Colombia, Argentina, Uruguay and Peru in the summer of 2012 was extremely productive. Azerbaijan's serious intention to strengthen relations with the region is proved by the fact that the delegation headed by the foreign minister included representatives of the Ministry of Economic Development, Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO), as well as representatives of the republic's business circles. During this tour, the Azerbaijani delegation took part in bilateral business forums, including in Uruguay, which confirmed the parties' mutual interest in deepening and expanding relations. In addition, the parties signed significant bilateral agreements defining the spheres in which bilateral cooperation will intensify in the future. Among the documents is an agreement on the establishment of the Azerbaijan-Uruguay Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group, which was signed, by the way, by the same infamous Jorge Orrico.

It is not by chance that during his visit to Montevideo, the Azerbaijani foreign minister was received by Uruguayan President Jose Mujica. At the meeting, the president expressed hope for intensification of cooperation between the two countries, and, by the way, received an invitation from his Azerbaijani counterpart to pay an official visit to Azerbaijan.

"I think that Uruguay can develop good and strong relations with Azerbaijan," said the chairman of the Standing Commission on Foreign Affairs of the Uruguayan House of Representatives, Jaime Mario Trobo. "Our countries have maintained diplomatic relations since 1992. The Azerbaijani foreign minister recently visited Uruguay, and it's time to meet at the level of heads of state and parliaments. Although our countries are geographically distant from each other, in the context of globalization, we are getting closer, and the development potential of Azerbaijan, as well as the entire Caucasus region, promises good prospects for Latin America and especially Uruguay."

Having organized a visit to Uruguay by a representative delegation last year, Azerbaijan made it clear that it is interested in this country and the continent in particular. Now the word rests with the Uruguayan side and its determination to show in practice that the country's policy is primarily driven by state and in particular economic interests rather than the political considerations of individual political groups, especially as statements attributed to Uruguayan diplomats are not always true (a good example is the statement attributed by the Armenian media to Uruguayan Foreign Minister Luis Almagro that Nagornyy Karabakh should be independent - this was later denied by the Uruguayan side). Therefore, we should expect that the recent visit of the state secretary of the Uruguayan presidential administration is the first sign of enhancing relations between the two countries.