The election of libertarian Javier Milei to the presidency of Argentina disappointed the Brazilian left, which hoped to continue the close relationship it has with the country’s current president, Alberto Fernández. The actions mainly of Brazilian PT, which sent marketers to reinforce Massa’s electoral campaign, in addition to the help of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) in financing business from Brazilian businesspeople to Argentines, did not have the expected effects.
Although Lula wished “good luck” to the elected libertarian, he preferred not to even nominate him in his first demonstration shortly after his victory was confirmed. The expectation is that he will call Milei this Monday (20), although the appointment has not yet been marked on the president’s official agenda at the time of writing this report.
The national president of the PT, Gleisi Hoffmann, confirmed that the party supported Massa in the electoral campaign, recognized Milei’s victory, but classified his election as a “new and very tough test for its democracy”. For her, it was an “admittedly difficult” election.
Another PT member from the party’s top leadership, federal deputy Lindbergh Farias (RJ), who is deputy leader of the government in Congress, adopted a harsher tone against Milei’s victory. For him, the libertarian will “sink” Argentina and “isolate the country” from the rest of the world.
The other PT members also expressed a similar disappointment with Milei’s victory, seeing it as a setback for democracy. They expressed their concerns for Argentina and the isolation of the country from the rest of the world based on their views of his extreme right-wing ideologies.
On the other hand, the leader of the PT bench in the Chamber of Deputies, Zeca Dirceu (PR), sought to avoid a tone of defeat for the left, and preferred to make a supposed comparison with the 2022 Brazilian presidential election.
Aside from the discontent voiced by the Brazilian left and the PT, Javier Milei’s victory in Argentina led to disappointment and concerns from the Brazilian political leaders.