MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bolsonaro hints Argentine might need to leave Mercosur

Mercosur is okay... for now, said Bolsonaro.

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said late Sunday upon departing from Abu Dhabi after a two-day state visit that if the policies of Argentina's next president affect Mercosur's agreement with the European Union (EU), a solution may be to remove the southern neighbours from the bloc.

After Argentine incumbent President Mauricio Macri lost his reelection bid to Peronist Alberto Fernández, Bolsonaro announced he did not intend to congratulate his soon-to-be colleague. Fernández headed the winning ticket with former two-time President and current Senator Cristina Fernández de Kirchner becoming VicePresident-elect.

“I don't want to congratulate him [Alberto Fernández]. Not now,” warned Bolsonaro. ”Let's wait and see his real stance in politics, (...) which line he will adopt.“

According to Bolsonaro, Macri lost the elections because his policies failed to yield the results people expected them to. Commenting on the elections' results, Bolsonaro said he regretted the outcome. ”I think Argentina made a bad choice,” he said.

Alberto Fernández has already voiced his support and called for the release of former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva, who is serving a prison sentence for corruption.

Bolsonaro also announced he planned to talk with Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo and General Augusto Heleno, head of the Institutional Security Office (GSI), before deciding his next steps.

About Mercosur, he said that “for now it is still ok”. He downplayed rumours that Brazil might leave the bloc but hinted Argentina's expulsion could be in the menu.

In July, Fernández had said he would review the agreement between Mercosur and the European Union [to check] whether the pact represented deindustrialising local production.

“I don't mean we will leave Mercosur, but we can join there with Paraguay, I do not know what will happen in the elections in Uruguay, and we shall decide whether Argentina violates any clause of the [EU] agreement or not. If it does, we can remove Argentina. But we hope that Argentina will not want to change its course.”