[1] A socialist, he was noted for his pragmatism and mastery of complex negotiations, and was seen as less ideological than his fellow-socialist predecessor as Foreign Minister, Reinaldo Gargano.

These included: Proposed moves for the liberalization of trade with the United States which he was thought to favour personally, but to which many of his left-wing party colleagues were viscerally opposed.

A wider issue related to Uruguay's membership of, and hosting of the Secretariat of, Mercosur, the regional trade agreement.

The challenge of Fernández was thus to pursue stable relations with Uruguay's regional trading partners with the goal of a climate favouring economic growth, while seeking not to disabuse openly the aspirations of the statist and protectionist Uruguayan Left, which supported the government in which he served.

While in September 2008 Venezuela and Bolivia expelled their respective US Ambassadors, it was hard to envisage Uruguayan foreign policy under Fernández, though rhetorically very pro-Venezuela, taking such an anti-American line.