BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentine President Alberto Fernandez will travel to Brazil on Monday to meet President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who narrowly defeated the incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil’s runoff election.
Argentina’s ruling Peronist promptly celebrated the election result, having had a tense relationship with right-winger Bolsonaro over the past four years.
“(Lula’s) victory ushers in a new era for the history of Latin America. A time of hope and future that begins today,” Fernandez said on Twitter. “Here you have a partner to work with and dream big with for the well-being of our nations.”
The victory of 77-year-old Lula could prompt a stronger relationship between the two neighbours once Lula takes office on January 1.
“Argentina and Brazil represent a very high level of the South American GDP,” Fernandez said on Argentina’s Radio 10 on Sunday night, ahead of his trip to Brazil’s financial capital Sao Paulo.
He said Lula is “a really unique and impressive leader, who has had a very tough time,” in reference to the 19 months the leftist leader spent in jail for bribery convictions, which were overturned by the Brazilian Supreme Court last year.
(Reporting by Lucila Sigal; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
