2024-07-06 04:00:42
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The feud between Javier Mille and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva threatens to turn into a diplomatic crisis as the Argentine leader’s first official visit to Brazil is not to meet with the country’s president but his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.
Milley will travel to Brazil on Saturday, days before a summit of South American trade bloc Mercosur leaders, but has said he will not attend the summit. Aides close to the Argentine president say he does not want to meet with Lula.
Milley will meet with Bolsonaro this weekend at a conservative political conference in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, where both will speak.
Despite economic ties between the two South American nations, liberal Milley and socialist Lula have not met formally since the Argentine president took office six months ago. Brazil is Argentina’s largest trading partner, accounting for nearly 18% of its total exports.
The diplomatic standoff marks an escalation in a personal feud between the two men, which was reignited last week when Lula demanded that Milley apologize for calling the Brazilian leader “corrupt” and “communist.”
The outspoken Milley refused to apologize and called Lula an “idiot dinosaur” in social media posts.
Political analysts say the fallout from the spat will ripple through Mercosur, which has failed to reach a long-awaited and much-touted trade deal with the European Union and has appeared leaderless in recent months.
“MERCOSUR is a poorly institutionalized bloc that relies heavily on presidential diplomacy. [the summit] “Of course, this is a political snub that has its roots in the hostility between the two presidents,” said Marcelo Elizondo, president of Argentina’s International Chamber of Commerce.
“The fact is that Mercosur has long been in a slow-motion crisis, and Milley’s absence only highlights its critical situation.”
Federico Melque, a political scientist at the University of San Andrés in Buenos Aires, said Milley had long been critical of Mercosur and viewed the bloc as an obstacle to Argentina’s unilateral opening of trade.
“In addition, Milley has generally shown little interest in strengthening relations with neighboring countries,” he said.
“When you consider the ideological gap between Lula and Milley, it’s likely [Milei] I think his supporters would rather see him with Jair Bolsonaro than with Lula.”
Bolsonaro, who served as Brazil’s president from 2019 to 2022 and was accused by police of plotting a coup to stay in power after losing the election to Lula, attended Milley’s inauguration in Buenos Aires earlier this year.
Relations between Brasilia and Buenos Aires have also been complicated by the large number of Brazilians who arrived in Argentina last January to participate in violent anti-government riots in the Brazilian capital that the government and Supreme Court called an “attempted coup.”
Many of the rioters are seeking asylum in Argentina to avoid prosecution in Brazil, but Buenos Aires has yet to identify them.
Gilberto Ackerman, an insurance broker who was arrested after storming Brazil’s presidential palace, told the Financial Times this week: “I can’t go back to prison. I’m 50 years old. If I go back to prison after a 16-year sentence, I’ll die there… [I] Didn’t destroy anything [in the riot]”
He then cut off his ankle monitor and fled to Argentina.
Political scientist Melker said he believed Argentina would not rush to resolve the asylum issue and “will let Brazil process the request and coordinate with Interpol.”
“[But] My feeling is that if there is an extradition request, Argentina will not create obstacles,” he said.
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