Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said he prays that in the upcoming elections Argentina elects a president that will “defend social inclusion and development.”

He added that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) needs to have “patience” in its renegotiations with the country regarding the US$44 billion debt former President Mauricio Macri acquired in 2018.

“I pray to God that democracy prevails and triumphs. That [they] elect a candidate that favors social inclusion and development, and not someone who believes that all public policies are useless spending, or that Argentina’s problems can be solved through privatization,” Lula said during a breakfast with foreign correspondents in the Presidential Palace in Brasilia. 

Regarding the IMF, Lula da Silva said that it needs to be reformed, proposing the aim should be to create institutions that are more “flexible and generous” with countries that receive loans.

“Brazil doesn’t want to grow alone, [we are] worried that a country as important as Argentina finds itself in the situation it currently is in, due to a debt acquired by another government that was left for the current administration. The IMF should be patient,” Lula said, adding that the drought has impeded the country from obtaining the foreign currency it usually obtains from agricultural exports.

Lula stated that the IMF “should remove the sword from [country’s] heads,” and that his government and he himself personally are doing everything they can from a diplomatic standpoint to address the situation of Argentina’s debt. He even mentioned that he has discussed the matter with Chinese President Xi Jinping. 

– with information from Télam