A broad agenda with bilateral agreements on security, defense, energy and trade, in addition to the strong common commitment to reformulate the entire structure of Mercosur and renewed criticism of Venezuela. This basis of coincidences will be the basis for the visit of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to Argentina today, which will include a private meeting with his counterpart Mauricio Macri at the Casa Rosada and an expanded inter-ministerial session.
Macri will welcome Bolsonaro at 11 a.m. with a military honor guard to advance what both consider a "road map" for deepening relations between Brazil and Argentina. This will be a continuation of the joint work that both heads of state began last January when the Argentine president traveled to Brasilia to meet with the then new Brazilian president.
Macri will hold a meeting with Bolsonaro and will then be joined by the Chief of Staff, Marcos Peña; Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie; and the Secretary of Strategic Affairs, Fulvio Pompeo. Later, there will be an expanded meeting of delegations with the participation of ministers and secretaries of State from both countries in the Eva Perón Room of the Casa Rosada.
Bolsonaro will be in Argentina for a few hours, so there will not be a legislative assembly in Congress in his honor. Instead, at noon the Brazilian president will meet in the Hall of Scientists of the Casa Rosada with authorities from the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies of the Nation and then with judges from the Supreme Court of Justice.
At noon, Macri and Juliana Awada will entertain President Bolsonaro and the Brazilian First Lady, Michelle Bolsonaro, with a lunch at the Casa Rosada Museum during which both Heads of State will speak at the toast.
By then, everything indicates that the presidents of Brazil and Argentina will have already signed a broad and ambitious list of bilateral agreements.
According to what they announced to Infobae According to officials close to Macri, among the agreements already closed last night was a very important one related to bioenergy and biofuels that aims to promote cooperation and joint trade between both countries in these products.
At the same time, a joint declaration on "a common digital vision" is planned, the signing of a memorandum of understanding on energy exchange; the signing of an agreement on cooperation and exchange of experiences in the area of territorial planning and infrastructure; a declaration of intent and cooperation in the defence industry that also provides for joint exercises between the Armed Forces of both countries and an agreement between the Ministries of Security to "strengthen international cooperation in the fight against drug trafficking and terrorism" on the borders, as well as joint work by the police forces of Brazil and Argentina to curb violence generated in the context of sporting events.
In terms of bilateral trade, Macri's aim is to work with Bolsonaro to expand the flow and resolve tariff complications. According to data from the Ecolatina Foundation, bilateral trade in goods with Brazil returned to negative territory (US$ -127 million) after five months in the zone of equilibrium and slight surplus. This was the result of imports that softened their contraction after the stability of the exchange rate and a little more clarity regarding the Argentine electoral contest that would have stimulated the level of activity in May.
A proposal for comprehensive reform of Mercosur is the other major issue which will be discussed at today's meeting between Bolsonaro and Macri.
Both presidents agree on the need for the regional bloc to be less bureaucratic, more flexible when establishing unilateral trade agreements with other countries among Mercosur member partners, and a more accessible tariff scheme for products outside the bloc.
Macri and Bolsonaro's intention is to prepare the ground so that at the Mercosur summit of presidents to be held in July in Santa Fe, there will be a strong push by Brazil and Argentina with the other partners of the bloc, such as Uruguay and Paraguay, in order to quickly advance these reforms.
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