Orsi's travel schedule: Brazil via Mercosur, vacation, and official visit to China in 2026

Editorial The President of the Republic, Yamandú Orsi, is traveling to Foz do Iguaçu (Brazil) this Friday to participate in the Mercosur Summit, with expectations for the possible signing of the bloc's agreement with the European Union. He will be accompanied on this official trip by Foreign Minister Mario Lubetkin, according to Subrayado (Channel 10) and sources from the Executive Tower confirmed to El País. On this occasion, there will be no transfer of power, as Orsi will be away for less than 48 hours. He will travel at around 1:30 p.m. on Friday and return late on Saturday. In addition, the president asked Parliament to approve his request for leave from the country from December 27 to January 3, when Orsi will take a break and spend time with his family abroad. Finally, another of the president's planned trips is in February 2026: he will go to China on a mission, accompanied by Uruguayan business leaders. As reported by El País, last week the dairy unions asked Orsi to convey to the Chinese government, on his next trip to the Asian country, their aspiration to have a quota of 50,000 tons of powdered milk per year that can enter without paying tariffs. Orsi held a meeting with representatives of the associations that lasted an hour and a half, something that these organizations had been insistently demanding since the president took office on March 1. Today, Uruguay's dairy exports to China are subject to a 10% tariff, equivalent to around USD 300 per ton, Álvaro Quintans, president of the National Association of Milk Producers, explained to El País. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva warned on Wednesday that if the free trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union is not approved “now,” it will not be done “while he is president.” Italy joined France on Wednesday in requesting a postponement of the trade agreement between the blocs, which Brazil intends to sign during a summit on Saturday in the Brazilian city of Foz do Iguaçu. “If we don't do it now, Brazil will not make any other agreements while I am president,” Lula said. AFP