Brazilian Ambassador to Argentina Julio Glinternick Bitelli said Thursday that the severing of diplomatic relations between the two countries would be “unimaginable” considering the vast bilateral agenda they share. Glinternick Bitelli was responding to comments made by presidential candidate Javier Milei (La Libertad Avanza, LLA), who said President Lula da Silva was a “communist” and that if he won the run-off, his allies would be “the US, Israel, and the free world.”

“Our bilateral agenda has a high degree of complexity. We cooperate on issues of nuclear energy, space exploration, and matters related to the Armed Forces. We also have commercial treaties; to end all that would be unimaginable,” Glinternick Bitelli said in an interview with C5N TV station. 

Asked if he had spoken to Lula about the incident, the ambassador said the Brazilian president had brushed off Milei’s comments. “[President] Lula has always said that national interests are above personal insults,” he said, adding that Lula has made it clear that Brazil’s relationship with Argentina will continue to be key regardless of who becomes president. 

Milei’s comments came in an interview with Peruvian journalist and writer Jaime Bayly that aired Wednesday on YouTube. Asked if would meet personally with Lula if he became president, Milei said he would not, calling him a “communist” who had “served time in jail for being corrupt.” 

“If someone wants to do business with China, what am I to say as a liberal? Nothing. Individuals will be free to do business with whomever they want. But in my [potential] role as head of state, my allies will be the United States, Israel, and the free world,” Milei told Bayly. 

This is not the first time the libertarian economist has made this type of comment. After coming in first in the primaries, Milei said he would not “pursue deals with communists,” singling out China, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Cuba. He also said that the South American trade bloc Mercosur (comprised of Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay) should be eliminated.  

Glinternick Bitelli highlighted that Brazil was the main trade partner of “many Argentine provinces”, and that lots of small and medium sized companies (known as PYMES) would have difficulties if governments can’t reach some sort of agreement. “The state’s role many times is to help companies from their country, especially PYMES, that are the ones that need the most assistance in order to be able to expand internationally,” he said. 

Argentine ambassador to Brazil Daniel Scioli also responded to Milei’s comments, saying that Lula was neither “corrupt nor a communist” and that presidential candidates must be “responsible in defending the country’s interests.”

– with information from Télam