SAO PAULO/BRASILIA/BUENOS AIRES, (Reuters) – Argentine President-elect Javier Milei today invited Brazil’s leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to his Dec. 10 inauguration and praised their countries’ ties, again softening his tone with a figure he had harshly criticized before.
Milei said in a letter to Lula, which he reposted on social media X, that he wishes to keep sharing “complementary areas” with the neighbouring country so both can achieve “growth and prosperity,” citing their trade and global footprints.
The letter marks yet another shift from the radical libertarian, who during his campaign dubbed Lula an “angry communist” and suggested he would balk at doing business with Brazil, Argentina’s top trade partner.
Last week Milei, who travels to the United States on Sunday, had alreadysoftened his tone with China’s communist leadership, thanking President Xi Jinping for a letter congratulating him. China is Argentina’s second-largest trade partner.
“I hope that our mutual time as presidents will be a stage for fruitful work and the construction of ties that consolidate the role Argentina and Brazil can and must fulfill in the concert of nations,” Milei told Lula.
The letter was delivered by his top foreign policy adviser, Diana Mondino, to Brazil’s Foreign Relations Minister Mauro Vieira at a meeting in Brasilia.
The new Argentine leader is closer politically and personally to former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and has invited him to his inauguration. Lula defeated Bolsonaro in elections last year.
“My main message is that we are brotherly countries and will continue to be,” Mondino told reporters after her meeting with Vieira, where they also discussed the current stage of Mercosur-EU negotiationsfor a trade deal.
Vieira said he would brief Lula on Milei’s invitation.
“I have no doubts that our relationship, which is very important, will remain that way … Mondino showed us Argentina wants to continue having a high-level dialogue with Brazil.”
Milei meanwhile was set to travel to the U.S. on Sunday, a spokesperson told Reuters, noting he would attend a religious ceremony in New York and have meetings in Washington.
According to the spokesperson, Milei will meet officials from the White House, the U.S. Treasury and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to explain his economic plan, which includes dollarizing Argentina and closing the central bank.
“He is not looking for financing,” said the spokesperson, adding Milei’s sister Karina, the U.S. ambassador to Argentina and three close aides were traveling with him.
Facing a severe economic crisis, Argentina is tied up by a $44 billion loan program from the IMF that has veered off track. Milei spoke with IMF director Kristalina Georgieva last week.