Macron responded to Bolsonaro? – 12/05/2023 – Elio Gaspari

Days before the Mercosur summit meeting, French President Emmanuel Macron tried to detonate the bloc’s agreement with the European Community. His shot was accurate:

“I cannot ask our farmers, our industrialists in France, and throughout Europe, to make efforts to decarbonize, to exit certain products, and then say that I am removing all tariffs to bring in products that do not apply these rules” .

Round but impertinent statement. France has opposed this agreement for many years. Macron could have waited a few days for the verbal blow. Soon Macron, who was mistreated by Jair Bolsonaro and had his wife offended by one of his ministers. Soon Macron, who alongside Joe Biden, built the support network to respect Lula’s election.

The impertinence was such that some hasty analyst could attribute it to a grudge held against Bolsonaro. (As General De Gaulle never said that “Brazil is not a serious country”, things like this happen in relations with France. The phrase would have been said by the Brazilian ambassador in Paris.)

At first, Lula avoided mentioning Macron and said that France is a protectionist country. Someone needs to warn him that calling a French ruler a protectionist is a compliment. Something like accusing Arthur Lira of defending his allies in Alagoas.

Luckily, Lula’s next stop was a visit to Germany, which has a different position in relation to the agreement with Mercosur. Lula’s days in Berlin had an atmosphere that usually occurred in Paris. A naughty French president and a friendly German chancellor are two new additions.

Many acrobatics will be needed to quickly close an agreement between two blocs that have the clear opposition of countries like France and Argentina to Javier Milei’s victorious campaign. By leaving the matter to the diplomats, some path can be found, even if it is the commitment to continue talking, as has been done for more than 20 years.

However, the real diplomatic core for Brazil and the future of Mercosur is in Argentina, with the arrival of Javier Milei. Again, if the problem is left in the hands of diplomats, it tends to be contained. Just look at the Itaipu hydroelectric plant, which the Argentines didn’t want, to see what Itamaraty is capable of.

Brazil coexisted smoothly with President Perón. In 1964, the Brazilian government prohibited the plane that transported him from Madrid to Buenos Aires from continuing its journey after landing in Rio, on a simple stopover. Perón received the news inside the plane. The blatant interference in the affairs of another country pleased the military that governed Argentina. Years later, at a banquet at Itamaraty, general-president Agustín Lanusse inserted an impromptu sentence into a negotiated speech, indirectly condemning the construction of the hydroelectric plant. The then president Médici kept few papers, including this text. The tight skirt that followed remained in the diplomats’ memories.

In 1973, Perón returned to power, but Itaipu’s work continued.

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