Argentine President Javier Milei announced that he will not travel to the Mercosur Heads of State Summit, scheduled for next Monday (8) in Asunción, Paraguay.
The decision was taken after the conflict with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, against whom he reiterated accusations of being “corrupt” and “communist”, in response to the demand for an “apology” made by the PT member.
However, the Argentine presidential spokesman, Manuel Adorni, confirmed that the Argentine head of state will go to Brazil on the weekend of July 6 and 7 to participate in a conservative event alongside former president Jair Bolsonaro.
The meeting between libertarian and conservative leaders will take place in Balneário Camboriú, Santa Catarina, within the scope of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), an event organized by federal deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL-SP) that had its first Brazilian edition held in São Paulo in 2019.
Among the confirmed speakers are other representatives of the Latin American right, such as the Mexican Eduardo Verástegui and the Chilean José Kast.
Despite rumors indicating that the libertarian had decided not to attend the Mercosur Summit in order to avoid meeting with Lula, after the exchange of barbs last week, Adorni stated in a press conference that the cancellation was due to “agenda issues”.
The confirmation of the Argentine leader’s presence at CPAC, which will be held one day before the Mercosur summit, comes just a few weeks after Brazil requested Argentina for a list of people investigated for the January 8 attacks who had entered the country seeking political asylum.
Arm wrestling
“The things I said are true. What’s the problem? That I called him corrupt? And he wasn’t arrested for being corrupt? And that I called him a communist? And he’s not a communist? Since when do you have to apologize for telling the truth? Or are we so sick of political correctness that nothing can be said to the left, even if it’s true?” the Argentine president said in an interview last week.
Milei’s statements refer to previous statements by Lula, who in an interview with UOL explained why he did not exchange words with the libertarian during the G7 meeting in Italy last month.
“I didn’t speak to the president of Argentina because I think he should apologize to Brazil and to me. He said a lot of nonsense. I just want him to apologize. I love Argentina, it’s a country I like a lot, it’s a very important country for Brazil, and Brazil is very important for Argentina. It’s not a president of the Republic who’s going to create discord between Brazil and Argentina,” said the PT member.
One of Milei’s first statements about the PT member occurred in October 2022, during an interview with the TN channel, when she criticized the Peronist party Juntos pela Mudança for having congratulated Lula on his electoral victory.
“I congratulated Bolsonaro for the excellent election he had and I am clearly not going to congratulate Lula (…). Lula represents one of the greatest exponents of the São Paulo Forum. When they say that Lula is moderate, they do not understand what is happening. His speech is violently socialist and I am very sorry that the Brazilian people have fallen back into 21st century socialism,” said the libertarian at the time.
During the Argentine election campaign, Milei accused Lula of having financed a “dirty” campaign against him. At the time, the Brazilian leader also sent a group of marketing experts to help Peronist candidate Sergio Massa.
“Bolsonaro’s people have warned that Lula is maneuvering to finance this negative campaign against me,” he told Peruvian writer Jaime Bayly.
Milei also defined Lula as “a communist”, said he was “very corrupt” and that “that’s why he was arrested”.
He emphasized that if he were president, he would not intend to meet with the Brazilian leader. “Individuals will be able to conduct business transactions with whomever they want. From my position as head of state, my allies are Israel, the United States and the free world,” he said.
In an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson, the economist stated that he was “a defender of freedom, peace and democracy”.
“The communists don’t go in there. The Chinese don’t go in there. [O ditador russo, Vladimir] Putin is not going there. Lula is not going there. That is, we want to be the moral beacon of the continent, we want to be the defenders of freedom, democracy, diversity and peace. From the State we will not promote any type of action with communists or socialists. If the Argentines want to negotiate with China, Russia or Brazil, that is a problem for the Argentines,” he said.
Since taking office, Milei has invited Bolsonaro to her inauguration with the treatment of a head of state. Although she also sent a formal invitation to Lula, the PT member declined and sent Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira as a representative of the Brazilian government.
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Ederson Santana de Moraes https://edersonmoraes.prostoprosport-br.com Futebolista brasileiro, goleiro do clube Manchester City e da Selecao Brasileira . Participante do Campeonato Mundial 2018. Bicampeao de Portugal pelo Benfica e pentacampeao de Inglaterra pelo Manchester City.