Uruguay reopens the border between expectations and uncertainty

Before that, Tourism Minister Tabare Vieira waited for the date as a “great day” to see “a light on the horizon” after more than a year-and-a-half of shutdowns and a downturn in the industry without chimneys.

For now, he just wanted to have a great southern summer season and restart the sector, with an immediate bet on the Copa América and Copa Libertadores finals in the second half of November.

But the undersecretary, Remo Monzeglio, told La Repubblica newspaper that the ministry sees this perspective with moderate optimism and emphasizes prioritizing health security.

Visitors will have to have two doses of recognized immunization vaccines within at least 14 days after receiving the last dose, a negative PCR within 72 hours before travel and a seventh test repeat after a stay in Uruguay.

According to the official, the above-mentioned sporting events will be a “very great test”, from now on with hotel reservations for Brazilian fans from his four competing teams, even in four neighboring divisions in Montevideo, the venue for the matches.

At the same time, medical and scientific authorities have warned that the delta type of SARS CoV 2 virus continues to circulate, and have expressed concern about the recent gradual increase in positive cases after months of fairly good control numbers.

For health reasons, some cruise companies have suspended crossings, with destinations to Uruguayan ports, which dumped a bucket of cold water on the promising tourist reefs before the pandemic.

Although they hope in Cerro Largo, on the border with Brazil, to revitalize duty-free trade, the outlook looks negative for the administrations bordering Argentina.

In the municipalities of Salto, with its hot springs offerings and Rio Negro and Paysando with other places of tourist interest, the traditional presence of Argentines is still uncertain due to the high prices on the Uruguayan side.

In contrast, resuming crossing between the banks of the shared Uruguay River would not prevent Uruguayans from crossing it en masse to buy at 55 percent lower cost of exchanging currency.

Relevant mayors from the country’s executive branch got some measures to try to protect local trade, services, and jobs.

But economist Martin Valcorba, a former member of the Ministry of Economy, said that “although the goal is for these measures to reach the pockets of the population, there is no guarantee that this will actually happen.”

M/H