Haddad avoids commenting on the relationship with Argentina after Milei’s election

Minister Fernando Haddad, of Finance, avoided commenting on what the commercial relationship between Brazil and Argentina should look like after Javier Milei’s victory in this weekend’s presidential election. The libertarian candidate promised, during the campaign, to open the economy to negotiate with other countries outside Mercosur, which directly concerns the Brazilian government.

According to Haddad, the time is now to “wish Milei luck” and “await developments” from now on.

“The president [Lula] demonstrated appreciation for democracy, our continent must become stronger. And wait for the events, now there is not much to comment,” he said upon arriving at the ministry this Monday morning (20).

Milei’s election had been viewed with the utmost attention by the Brazilian government, which has Argentina as its main trading partner on the continent and third largest in the world, behind only China and the United States. The Argentine president-elect said, at various times during the campaign, that he intended to take the country out of Mercosur, and changed his speech in the final stretch, preaching an improvement in the trade bloc’s relations.

Last week, during the live “Conversa com o Presidente”, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) sent a message to Argentines and stated, among other points, that Brazil and Argentina need to be united in a commercial bloc.

“We need to create our block to trade commercially with the rest of the world. We can make an agreement between South America and China, with the European Union, with the United States. Together we will be strong, apart we will be weak. That’s what I wanted you to think about when you vote,” said Lula.

Milei also heavily criticized Lula during the campaign, and stated that she would not talk to him if elected. The PT member, on the other hand, congratulated the elected official on social media, but without mentioning him by name and has not yet called him.

Lula openly supported the defeated government candidate, Sergio Massa, and deployed PT marketers to reinforce the electoral campaign.