In the last debate between the two candidates for president of Argentina, which took place on Sunday night (12) in Buenos Aires, Javier Milei and Sergio Massa spoke about the country’s relationship with Brazil and China.
Massa, who is Argentina’s current Economy Minister, asked his right-wing rival if, if elected, he intends to maintain relations with Brazil and China and recalled that Milei has already called presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and Xi Jinping of “communists”.
“Brazil and China: Are you going to maintain relations or not? Why did you call the two presidents communists”, he asked. Milei said that relations must be maintained by the private sector and mentioned the feud between the current Argentine president, Alberto Fernández, and the former Brazilian head of state, Jair Bolsonaro (PL).
“You belong to a government in which Alberto Fernández did not speak to Bolsonaro. What’s the problem with me talking to Lula or not?”, replied Milei.
Massa accused Milei of having a “bad memory” and recalled that he visited Bolsonaro during the pandemic, when he was still a deputy. “I think what you are not trying to tell people is that due to ideological prejudice, you are going to leave 2 million Argentines [do setor agropecuário, portuário e automotor] jobless. The rupture of Mercosur, relations with Brazil and China, represents 2 million fewer jobs and an impact on Argentine exports of 28 billion dollars. Foreign policy cannot be governed by whims, by ideology, it must be governed by the national interest,” he expressed.
Milei, in turn, said that he “deeply believes” in the opening of international trade, but that the State has no reason to interfere in international relations.
“The best example of the hindrance that the State causes is what is happening with Mercosur, which has no exit, which is stuck and is not progressing in any direction. Faced with these lies that say that I signal that there is no need to trade with China, with Brazil, I say that it is false. But it’s a private issue, the State doesn’t have to get involved, because every time the State gets involved, it generates corruption and this causes a drop in the well-being of Argentines”, said the opposition candidate.
Milei added that private sector trade with Brazil and China will continue to exist, but if it ceased to exist “it could trade with another place”, or triangulate with other countries. “Stop scaring people with job losses,” she complained.
See also: Election in Argentina enters the final stretch
Source: CNN Brasil
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