MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Latam leaders congratulate Brazilian people and Bolsonaro; Uruguay ex president Mujica compares him with Hitler

Mauricio Macri, was on the phone with the president elect, but earlier in the evening ”congratulated Jair Bolsonaro for his victory in Brazil!!

Latin American leaders congratulated Brazilian president elect Jair Messias Bolsonaro for his Sunday victory. Be it via twitter, official releases or direct phone calls, the next president of Brazil was well wished even from neighboring Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro.

 However the dissenting opinion came from ex Uruguayan president, and with the largest grouping in the ruling coalition, Jose Mujica who compared the victory of the ex Army captain with the rise of former dictator and German genocide Adolf Hitler.

“Congratulation to the Brazilian people for a clean democratic election. My congratulations to Jair Bolsonaro for his great electoral victory. I'm inviting him to visit Chile, convinced we will work strongly looking into the future, and in support of the well being of our peoples and integration”, twitted Chilean president Sebastián Piñera, who also spoke on the phone with the president-elect.

President Enrique Peña Nieto, “in the name of the Mexican people and government congratulated Jain Bolsonaro on his election as president of the Federative Republic of Brazil, in an extraordinary day reflecting the democratic strength of the country”

Argentina's Mauricio Macri, was on the phone with the president elect, but earlier in the evening “congratulated Jair Bolsonaro for his victory in Brazil!! I wish we can quickly get to work together on the relations of our countries, and the well being or Argentines and Brazilians”.

Likewise Paraguay's Mario Abdo Benítez well wished the Brazilian people and said he wanted to work with Brazil, “for more solid democracies in the region, with strengthened institutions and always searching for the prosperity of our peoples”.

Even Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro kept to civilized manners and sent a message on the victory of Bolsonaro. “The president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, extends his best wishes to the Brazilian people, for their celebration of the second electoral round, in which the winner of the election was Jair Bolsonaro”.

Likewise presidents of Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, Ivan Duque, Lenin Moreno and Martin Vizcarra, in similar terms, congratulated the Brazilian people and president elect Bolsonaro, as well as looking ahead to work closely to further advance and promote their respective bilateral relations.

However early Monday, Bolivia and Uruguay were missing from the congratulations list. It is well known that president Evo Morales is a close friend of ex president Lula da Silva and his PT party, but also Bolivia is highly dependent on its sales of gas to Brazil.

In the case of Uruguay, president Tabare Vazquez can be expected to keep to protocol and send a best wishes message, however the left leaning ruling coalition in parliament, and several ministries, are under control of ex president Mujica's grouping, and follow the statements of his leader, comparing the rise of Bolsonaro to that of Adolf Hitler ln Germany. Not a wise angle since Brazil together with China are Uruguay's main trade partners

Finally most Central American countries also congratulated the democratic spirit of the Brazilian people and their president elect Bolsonaro. In the same spirit the Secretary General of the Organization of American States, Luis Almagro sent a support message. “We salute the Brazilian people for their electoral day. We congratulate president elect Jair Bolsonaro, and applaud his message of truth and peace. You can count with the commitment of the OAS Secretariat to jointly work for democracy, human rights, security and the development of the region”.