In video, Bolsonaro and Fernández hold their first bilateral meeting | Politics

It was the first bilateral agenda between the two heads of state. Both have already participated in meetings with other presidents, such as the Mercosur summits.

The video conversation took place almost a year after the Fernández administration began. The Argentine took office on December 10, 2019, and Vice President Hamilton Mourão represented Brazil at the ceremony; it was the first time since 2003 that the Brazilian president was not in possession of his Argentine counterpart.

The meeting took place on the “Friendship Day” between the two countries, celebrated on November 30. In 2020 we celebrate the 35th anniversary of the meeting between Presidents José Sarney (Brazil) and Raúl Alfonsín (Argentina), held in 1985 in Foz do Iguaçu, which laid the foundations for the creation of Mercosur.

Bolsonaro and Fernández have a relationship marked by criticism, especially the Brazilian, who defines himself as a right-wing politician, while the Peronist is a left-wing politician. The Argentine president has Vice President Cristina Kirchner, an ally of the PT governments in Brazil.

Argentina’s ambassador to Brazil, Daniel Scioli, has articulated the conversation between Bolsonaro and Fernández in recent months. Former Buenos Aires governor and Néstor Kirchner’s vice president, Scioli declared in August that Fernández wanted to leave behind the “misalignments” with Bolsonaro.

In 2019, Bolsonaro repeatedly defended the re-election of the then liberal-leaning president Mauricio Macri, who lost in the first round to Fernandéz.

Bolsonaro went on to say that if Fernández were elected, Argentina would become a “new Venezuela,” with the exodus of Argentines to Rio Grande do Sul, just as Venezuelans fled to Roraima.

Still on the campaign trail, Fernandéz replied: “In political terms, I have nothing to do with Bolsonaro. I greatly celebrate that he speaks ill of me. He is a racist, a misogynist, a violent man.”

Subsequently, Fernández said that he was wrong to enter the debate with Bolsonaro and that he must work to preserve the link between neighboring countries.

Bolsonaro, however, maintained the criticism after the inauguration of the Argentine, who governs a country that is going through a long economic crisis, aggravated by the new coronavirus pandemic. The two presidents differ in strategy. The Argentine has adopted strict quarantines, while Bolsonaro is critical of social isolation and the use of a mask.

The Argentine has adopted strict quarantines, while Bolsonaro is critical of social isolation and the use of a mask.

On the other hand, they converge in the sense of not forcing the population to take the future Covid-19 vaccine. Fernández said last week that the vaccine will be free, but not mandatory. Bolsonaro has already said that he is against the mandatory vaccine.

In August, for example, Bolsonaro criticized the Fernández administration, saying that this is what the Argentine people “deserve.” The Brazilian president referred to Argentina to counter criticism from his own supporters. According to him, the same thing happened with Macri.