by For the first time since Javier Milei’s victory in the runoff on November 19, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva referred to the libertarian. he did it avoiding criticism and being very cautious, although he was also distant and warned about a possible weakening of Mercosur.
“I don’t see any major problem with Brazil, I don’t see any problem. Milei made the speeches he wanted, he won the elections, now he has to govern and We will see the difference between theory and practice.“said the Brazilian president on Thursday afternoon in a statement to Rádio Itatiaia in Minas Gerais that barely went public but is the first of its kind.
During the electoral campaign, Milei included Lula in his repudiation of the communist and socialist rulers. And on Twitter it came to answer a fanatic that the leader of the PT was “a poisoned communist.”
For his part, the Brazilian president, looking more internally towards his enemy Jair Bolsonaro – a friend of Milei – supported Sergio Massa in the Argentine electoral campaign and appeared in the Libertarian non-democratic “ultra-right”.
Argentina is Brazil’s third trading partner after China and the United States. Brazil disputes first place with China for Argentina.
After his electoral victory, in a runoff for Massa Ambassador Julio Bitelli and Foreign Minister Diana Mondino got to work on a difficult but not impossible relationship. Because as happened between Bolsonaro and Alberto Fernández, the institutional channels continued to work. Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira received Mondino in Brasilia, and there is a possibility that Lula greets her this February 21 or 22 when Mondino travels to Rio de Janeiro for the G20 foreign ministers’ summit. She will travel with Federico Pinedo.
To reduce the intensity of the fire, Milei specially invited Lula to his inaugurationbut also to the far-right Bolsonaro, who had an immense display of interviews and affection from his followers upon arriving in Buenos Aires. Lula did not come and did not call Milei eitherwho did not refer to him in negative terms again.
It is evident that it was imposed a truce between the parties. For that matter, Milei had a big stir and repudiation from Colombia when a week ago she said that Gustavo Petro was “a communist murderer” who was sinking his country.
Last week, Ambassador Bitelli attended a meeting of the Latin American and Caribbean Group (Grulac) at his embassy, in which Mondino and ambassadors from the entire region were present, including the controversial Venezuelan ambassador Stella Lugo Betancourt.
There were: Vice Chancellor Leopoldo Sahores and the Secretary of American Affairs, Mariano Vergara, who are working on bilateral ties. There will soon be a meeting of mixed political commissions. But in that meeting with the Brazilian ambassador bilateral conflicts did not emerge. It was the rule.
“Regardless of the speeches Milei makes to get his electorate to like him, I think Mercosur is stronger than that. (referred to the relationship between them). The relationship between Brazil and Argentina is very strong.“Lula declared on the radio in Mina Gerais.
“Obviously there is the possibility of a weakening of Mercosur depending on the behavior of the Argentine economy. But I don’t see major problems regarding Brazil,” said the Brazilian president this Thursday, who has many differences with the Argentine: his vision of the economy with the presence of a State with social sensitivity.
They also differ on the conflict between Israel and Palestine, the relationship with Russia in the face of the war in Ukraine and the relationship with Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.
The Argentine embassy in Brazil is without leadership after the fiasco with Daniel Soli. The former governor, former vice president and former presidential candidate occupied that place with the government of Alberto Fernández. He wanted to stay as ambassador and Lula was asked for the placet. They granted it, but Scioli was negotiating the position of Secretary of Tourism with Javier Milei. In the end he will not use his place as Ambassador in Brasilia since he joined the libertarian cabinet. A disaster for Lula.
For the moment between the two governments, as was done with China, The goal is to “live together.”
