The elected president of Argentina, the ultraliberal Javier Milei, invited President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to his inauguration, following tensions between the two leaders, according to Itamaraty reported this Sunday (26).
Diana Mondino, appointed by Milei to be his future chancellor, met in Brasília with Lula’s Foreign Minister, Mauro Vieira, reported Itamaraty on the X network, formerly Twitter.
Mondino, who is also an elected deputy, “delivered an invitation from president-elect Javier Milei for President Lula to participate in his inauguration”, added Itamaraty.
During the Argentine election campaign, Milei had declared that, if he became president, he would not meet with the PT member, whom he called “corrupt” and “communist”.
However, Milei, who won the Argentine presidential elections a week ago, sent Lula a greeting “with esteem and respect” and invited him to his inauguration ceremony on December 10, according to the letter, published by the press this Sunday.
In the one-page document, Milei expressed his desire for Argentina and Brazil, major trading partners, to continue “sharing areas of complementarity”.
And he hopes that he and Lula will share “a stage of fruitful work and bond-building”.
But the anti-system ultraliberal, who promises structural changes in his government, also pointed out that “economic, social and cultural changes, based on the principles of freedom” will position both “as competitive countries, where their citizens will be able to perform to the maximum of their capabilities and, thus, choose the future they want.”
– Criticism of Lula –
Asked about Milei’s harsh comments against Lula during the campaign, Mondino told journalists after the meeting that “one thing is criticism of ideology and another of the person”. And she clarified: “the partnership” between the two countries “will continue in the best way and as quickly as possible”.
Vieira also seemed to agree in turning the page, stating that “what was discussed during the campaign is one thing and what happens during the government is another”.
Mondino emphasized the “importance of signing as quickly as possible” the agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, the South American bloc from which Milei threatened to withdraw Argentina.
– No phone conversation –
However, a visit by Lula to the inauguration ceremony in Argentina is not guaranteed, said Mauro Vieira, who noted that the president has not yet read Milei’s letter, and the two leaders have not spoken by phone.
A Planalto source had said on Monday that Lula will not attend the inauguration of the new Argentine government, and the chief minister of the Secretariat of Social Communication, Paulo Pimenta, stated that Milei should first apologize to open a dialogue between the two leaders .
Former president Jair Bolsonaro will be present at the ceremony. He stated that, with the Argentine victory, “hope shines again in South America”.