Veronica Dalto |
Buenos Aires, (EFE).- The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has made it clear that Brazil is back in dialogue with its neighbors in the region and was received with warmth and applause in Buenos Aires, first on an official visit to Argentina and then with the return to the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac).
The Brazilian chose Argentina to make his first international trip since he assumed his third term on January 1, and was received by President Alberto Fernández, a co-religionist and politician with whom he has a good personal relationship. His presence elevated the level of the international forum that he himself had helped create in 2010.
Both presidents opted to start a “new stage” after the triumph of Lula da Silva ended the mandate of President Jair Bolsonaro, who had a bad relationship with Alberto Fernández, and after Brazil returned to Celac, of which the far-right president excluded himself in 2020, due to the presence of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
And after the coup attempt suffered by the government of Lula da Silva, on January 8 in Brasilia, the region has shown solidarity with the fight against the fascist right-wing parties that are emerging on the continent, a discourse that has been repeated throughout the official visit and the VII Celac Summit, which also rejected the violent events in Peru.
During his visit, Lula defended the presence of Cuba and Venezuela in the forum, despite the complaints that they are not democratic countries and for human rights violations, adding to the position of the Government of Aberto Fernández, which was highly criticized. by the Argentine opposition.
Within the framework of this VII Celac Summit, Lula has met with the President of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, in his intention to reestablish diplomatic relations.
A wish that he also expressed in his relationship with Venezuela, but the meeting with President Nicolás Maduro, scheduled for last Monday, was canceled because Chávez’s “son by law” suspended his trip to Buenos Aires.
The scheduled meeting with the Argentine vice president, Cristina Fernández, which was to be held in the Argentine Senate, was also frustrated, at a time when the former president (2007-2015) alludes to the existence of “lawfare” (legal war) to denounce the legal cases he faces for corruption.
Lula da Silva also met with Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, a country with which Brazil wants to have air transportation.
And he also did it with the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, to talk about cooperation and alliances for peace, and with the director general of the FAO, Qu Dongyu, to talk about efforts to combat hunger.
Lula, who already governed his country between 2003 and 2010, generated expectation in Buenos Aires due to the economic announcements, which included Argentina’s special interest in discussing the possible creation of a common currency -the “south”- for commercial transactions, which would allow stop depending on the dollar.
Brazil is Argentina’s main trading partner, and Lula himself acknowledged that bilateral trade between the two countries was 7 billion dollars in 2003, rose to 40 billion dollars in 2010 and has now fallen by half. For this reason, he promised to work to relaunch the business relationship.
Lula da Silva’s visit also addressed the strengthening of Mercosur – the bloc that brings together Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay – which is facing turbulence due to possible agreements outside the bloc between Uruguay and third countries, such as China, a matter that the Brazilian delegation He will board tomorrow in Montevideo, his next stop, on the other side of the Río de la Plata.
