Bolsonaro threatens to punish Argentina in Mercosur if Alberto Fernández wins

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro warned today against the sanctions against Argentina in Mercosur in case a prospective government, Alberto Fernández, refuses to reduce tariffs and trade liberalization of the country. block, also integrated by Uruguay and Paraguay.

Bolsonaro said that a victory of the formula Alberto Fernández-Cristina Fernández, "can put all Mercosur in jeopardy", by expressing it in Japan, as part of a tour that 's going on. he performs in Asia.

According to Bolsonaro, Brazil can meet Uruguay and Paraguay and make a decision similar to that adopted by the bloc in 2012, providing for the suspension of Asunción following the impeachment that had sacked the Paraguayan president , Fernando Lugo, authorizing Venezuela to enter.

"We can meet Paraguay and Uruguay and make a similar decision to that taken (against Paraguayans) in 2012," he told reporters.

"We know that the return of the group San Pablo Forum (group of the left party founded in 1990) by Cristina Kirchner can put all Mercosur at risk and we must have an alternative at hand," said Bolsonaro.

According to the Brazilian president, the goal of his country "is not to allow the left to form a great Bolivian homeland and to pave the way for trade with the world".

"It is necessary to be ready for any changes within Mercosur," he said.

Brazil presented, in the context of the December Mercosur Summit in Bento Gonçalves, State of Rio de Grande do Sul, a plan to reduce import tariffs and amend the common external tariff that governs the South American bloc .

The Folha newspaper in Sao Paulo, meanwhile, said that the tension in front of a Todos Front government would also raise doubts about the agreement between Mercosur and the European Union.

Brazil has presented to its partners in Mercosur an unpublished table of reduction of the tax on imports, according to the newspaper Valor.

The industry will be hardest hit as the Guedes initiative says the import tax for the sector will drop from 13.4% to 6.4%.

Bus and shoe manufacturers have already protested against the proposal, saying it would benefit the entry of products from China, Brazil's largest trading partner since 2009.

"We need opening but gradually, because at this rate, it can be harmful," said the president of the Association of Automobile Manufacturers (Anfavea), Luiz Carlos Moraes.