Lula uses ceremony in Planalto to honor Alberto Fernández

The President of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, arrived at the Planalto Palace in the early afternoon of this Monday (26th) for a meeting with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). The Argentine was welcomed by Lula on the Planalto ramp and the ceremony featured a performance by the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) orchestra.

According to the Itamaraty, the meeting aims to celebrate 200 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. For the event, the entire Esplanada dos Ministérios received flags in the colors of the flags of Brazil and Argentina.

Furthermore, at the meeting with Lula, Fernández is expected to discuss economic support measures for Argentina, which has been facing a worsening of its economic and political crisis. This is the fourth time that the Argentine president has come to Brazil and the fifth that he has met with Lula since January.

As a way to help the neighboring country, Lula has been working for the New Development Bank (NBD), also known as the “Brics bank”, to make loans to the Fernández government. At the beginning of this year, Lula managed to place former president Dilma Rousseff as president of the NBD.

In addition to Brazil, the bank is made up of other countries in the Brics bloc: South Africa, China, India and Russia. In May, Lula stated that the idea is for the NBD to provide guarantees to Brazil in financing exporters. The initiative, however, would depend on changes in the bank’s rules.

In the alternative presented by Lula, Brazil would finance the export of Brazilian businessmen to Argentina. The measure is a way to circumvent the low reserve of dollars in the country and defaults on exporters. With the initiative, exporters would receive from the Brazilian government, and Argentina would pay later.

Weakened Fernández will not run for re-election in Argentina

Fernández’s meeting with Lula takes place two days after the deadline for registering pre-candidates in Argentina. Politically weakened and with the country facing one of its worst economic crises, Fernández withdrew from running for re-election.

In addition, the current president broke with vice president Cristina Kirchner, the main leader of Peronism, the political current of the current government. After a turnaround, the governing base announced Sergio Massa, current Minister of Economy, as a pre-candidate. Massa is Cristina’s ally.

After the meeting with Lula in the Planalto, the Argentine will head to the Itamaraty for a lunch hosted by the Brazilian government. Fernández’s agenda in Brazil also foresees appointments this Monday with the President of Congress, Senator Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), and with the President of the Federal Supreme Court, Minister Rosa Weber.