Argentine President Alberto Fernández was welcomed in Brasilia today by his counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in a state visit, received with full military honors and color guard, singing of both nations’ national anthems, etc. This is Fernández’s fifth bilateral meeting with Lula since the Brazilian took office on Jan. 1. The ostensible reason was to celebrate 200 years of diplomatic relations and the fact that Argentina was the first nation to recognize Brazil’s independence from Portugal in 1822. As a sign of his respect, Lula conferred on Fernández the highest honor that can be granted a foreigner, the National Order of the Southern Cross.
But Lula had just returned from Europe, where he had brought up the Argentine case in several venues, taking every opportunity to attack the IMF and the “knife it holds to Argentina’s neck.” With the implosion of Argentina’s financial crisis over the past year, Lula has taken personal responsibility for aiding the country in any way he can and made clear during today’s visit that he considers the bilateral relationship to be of great strategic importance. According to Argentina’s C5N TV news, Fernández also intended to ask Lula for help in its negotiations with the IMF.
Fernández’s delegation included Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero and Ambassador to Brazil Daniel Scioli, but notably absent was Finance Minister Sergio Massa, who was just selected to be the presidential candidate of the ruling coalition, newly renamed Union for the Fatherland, although he will continue in his current post while campaigning. Massa has coordinated most closely with his Brazilian counterpart Fernando Haddad, who was part of Lula’s delegation, in trying to resolve the issue of obtaining financing for Brazilian exporters who want to sell to Argentina and be paid in pesos among other bilateral matters.
