The idea of a common currency was originally raised the previous year in an article written by Fernando Haddad and Gabriel Gallipoló, now Brazil’s finance minister and his executive secretary respectively, and was mentioned by Lula during the campaign. .
Lula chose Argentina for his first international trip since taking office, in keeping with the tradition of the first visit of Brazil’s largest trading partner in the region. After four years of strained relations during the government of Brazil’s former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro.
Lula’s visit to neighboring Argentina also marks Brazil’s return to the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which Brazil left in 2019 at the behest of Bolsonaro, who joined the regional grouping because of the presence of Cuba and Venezuela. declined to participate. ,
According to the article, both presidents stressed the need for good relations between Argentina and Brazil to strengthen regional integration.
The leaders also stressed strengthening the MERCOSUR trade bloc, which includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, and Haddad, Brazil’s finance minister, recently expressed regret that it has been left out in recent years.
The two presidents said, “Together with our partners, we want MERCOSUR to constitute a platform for our effective integration into the world through the joint negotiation of balanced trade agreements that respond to our strategic development objectives.”
