Brazil to Maintain Pragmatic Relationship with Argentina, Says Bolsonaro

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – President Jair Bolsonaro said yesterday, November 27th, that Brazil will pursue a pragmatic relationship with the government of Argentina‘s President-elect Alberto Fernández.

“Our relationship with Argentina will be pragmatic, yes, we have a good business relationship, which will continue as far as I’m concerned,” Bolsonaro said during an interview with journalists in Manaus.

Fernández won the elections by the left-wing coalition ‘Frente de Todos’ and his vice-president is Senator Cristina Kirchner, the country’s former president. Bolsonaro is critical of Kirchnerism and supported the re-election of President Mauricio Macri, who was defeated at the polls in the October elections in the neighboring country.

The new government will take office on December 10th in Buenos Aires, and Bolsonaro has already appointed Citizenship Minister Osmar Terra to represent him at the ceremony.

On Monday, November 25th, Bolsonaro said that he hoped that the agreements made by the Argentinian government within the Mercosur framework would be sustained by Fernández, such as the free trade agreement with the European Union, which has yet to be ratified by the bloc’s member countries.

On December 4th and 5th, the last summit of the year for Mercosur’s heads of state and the Common Market Council will be held. Argentina will still be represented by Mauricio Macri on this occasion.

The Amazon

On Wednesday, President Bolsonaro was in the Amazonian capital to take part in the opening of the 1st Sustainability Exhibition of the Manaus Industrial Complex. An initiative of the Superintendence of the Manaus Free Trade Zone (SUFRAMA) and the Institute of Socio-Environmental Strategic Intelligence of the Amazon (PIATAM), the event aims to show the importance of the pole for the sustainable development of the Amazon rainforest.

The event runs until Friday, November 29th, and has 130 stands for visitors, as well as a program of lectures in the fields of economy, business and sustainability. The organizers expect to attract approximately 40 thousand people in the three days of the event.

During his speech, Bolsonaro again mentioned the “greed” of foreign countries in the wealth of the region. “We are here on the richest piece of land in the world in terms of minerals, biodiversity, drinking water, large areas and there is greed over this region and we should be concerned about it,” he said. “And the Manaus Free Trade Zone is here to show that the Amazon is ours, to incorporate it into the rest of our country”.

The president again championed the opening of indigenous areas for agricultural production and mineral exploration. “How many of you here are descendants of Indians, why reserve space for them within a land where they can do nothing about it? As far as I and our legislature are concerned, we want the Indians to do exactly what the landowner does next door on their land, and they can even prospect,” said Bolsonaro.

The president has repeatedly stated that the government is preparing a project to legalize mining in the country, including indigenous lands. Article 231 of the Federal Constitution stipulates that mineral activities in the indigenous territory are subject to prior authorization by the National Congress and the agreement of the indigenous population living in the territory.

According to the Constitution, the demarcated traditional reserves are “the exclusive usufruct” of the indigenous people, including the riches of the soil, rivers, and lakes in them.

After the ceremony, Bolsonaro boarded for Altamira, in Pará, where he is taking part in the inauguration ceremony of the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Plant.

Source: Agência Brasil