Lula da Silva describes Bolsonaro as ‘genocidal’ during speech in Argentina

The president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, asked Argentina for “apologies” on Monday for all the “profanities” that his predecessor, the “genocidal” Jair Bolsonaro, launched during his term (2019-2022) against his counterpart Alberto Fernández .

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“I am apologizing to the Argentine people for all the rude words that the last president of Brazilwhich I say is a genocide due to the lack of care and responsibility he had during the pandemic, for all the offenses he said to comrade Fernández,” said the Brazilian president when appearing with his Argentine counterpart, with whom he maintains a friendly relationship, after meeting in Buenos Aires.

Bolsonaro, who supported the re-election of Argentine Mauricio Macri in the 2019 Argentine elections, went so far as to say that with the rise of Fernández to power, Argentina was preparing for “the worst”, considering that it would follow the same populist path as the previous Lula governments (2003-2010).

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For his part, the Argentine president expressed his support for his Brazilian counterpart and rejected the coup attempt on January 8.

“I want you to know, dear friend, that from Argentina we will always be by your side and we will not let any delusional attack on democracy and to the institutions of Brazil,” Fernández told Lula during the joint statement at the Casa Rosada (headquarters of the Argentine Executive) after a meeting between the two.

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“We are not going to let any fascist take the attack on popular sovereignty from above,” added Fernández, who received Lula in Buenos Aires at the Brazilian’s first international trip since he assumed the Presidency on January 1st.

Lula’s trip will also include, this Tuesday, his attendance at the VII Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac).

‘Similar challenges’ between Brazil and Argentina

Fernandez said that both countries are beginning “a new stage” after Lula da Silva put an end to the mandate of Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022), with a bad relationship with the Argentine president, while he echoed the attempted coup carried out by thousands of radical followers of the former right-wing ruler on August 8 January in Brasilia.

“The challenges we have are very similar,” Fernández said, adding that the first is “to consolidate democracy and institutions.”

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Meanwhile, the Peronist equated political opponents, by indicating that both countries continue to be linked by the same problems: “Bolsonaro passed through Brazil and (Mauricio) Macri passed through Argentina”, in reference to the right-wing former Argentine president (2015-2019).

These statements were made after both leaders signed a joint declaration and that its ministers sign mutual cooperation agreements on Defense, Health, Science, Economy and Antarctic issues.

EFE