Relations between Argentina and Brazil seemed to be on the mend this Wednesday (12.02.2020) with a visit from Argentine Foreign Minister Felipe Solá, who even asked President Jair Bolsonaro for support in renegotiating his country's huge debt.
The foreign minister's visit to Brasilia represented the first contact between the governments of the two largest Mercosur partners, who in recent months abandoned diplomacy to air the strong ideological discord between the far-right Jair Bolsonaro and the Peronist Alberto Fernández.
Solá was first received by his counterpart Ernesto Araújo and then by Bolsonaro himself, in an apparent attempt to put aside the differences and insults of recent months.
Proof of the easing of tensions was a proposal made by Bolsonaro, which Solá will have to pass on to Fernández: a first meeting between the two presidents, which could take place on March 1 in Montevideo, within the framework of the inauguration of the new president of Uruguay, Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou.
«It was an excellent meeting"Araújo told reporters alongside Solá, in a joint statement in which they made no reference to the controversies and reinforced both the historical ties and the intense bilateral commercial and economic relationship.
First decision: Reactivate bilateral commissions
One of the fruits of the first meeting between Solá and Araújo was the decision to reactivate various bilateral commissions that had been paralyzed since Fernández's electoral victory last October.
Araújo explained that it was agreed that "immediate» the return to work of the commissions on economy, infrastructure and even politics, one of the issues that most separates both governments, but in which they have committed to identifying points to work on "the positive."
In the case of the economic and infrastructure commissions, the first contacts will focus on finding formulas to recover bilateral trade, which last year moved nearly 25.000 billion dollars, affected by the economic difficulties of both countries, partners of Mercosur along with Uruguay and Paraguay.
Debt relief and coincidences with Mercosur
Solá admitted that Argentina's delicate economic situation is one of the obstacles facing bilateral trade relations and pointed out that the renegotiation of the large external debt "inherited" from Mauricio Macri's government will be crucial for recovery.
«Argentina is in a deep recession, which is reflected in the fall in exports, it has a very strong internal demand problem, and its purchasing power has fallen in a worrying way.» and has «inherited a very high inflation"Sola said.
He also pointed out that "faces an absurdly high external debt in a very short period of time", that a good part of the resources that it received"They fled through an irresponsible exchange rate system", for which the Fernández Government is in negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In this regard, he acknowledged that he asked the Brazilian government for help.
«We have asked our Brazilian brothers to also support us in whatever way they can in the FMI», since Argentina now requires «time to grow and pay«.
Solá agreed that Mercosur should seek greater trade openness and new agreements with other countries or blocs, but clarified that Argentina's priority at this time is to renegotiate its foreign debt and rebuild its economy.
«We ask for time to grow and pay"said Solá, who seemed to condition Argentine support for structural reforms in Mercosur on the country's economic recovery.
During the meeting at Itamaraty, Solá was accompanied by the Secretary of Strategic Affairs, Gustavo Beliz; the Chief of Staff of the Foreign Ministry, Guillermo Justo Cháves; the Vice-Chancellor, Pablo Tettamanti; the Secretary of International Economic Relations, Jorge Neme, and the Undersecretary of Mercosur, María del Carmen Squeff, in addition to the designated ambassador to Brazil, Daniel Scioli.
With EFE information
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