Bolsonaro warned of "serious consequences for Argentina if the left wins"

A sudden cold threatens the warm relations between the two largest economies in South America, since the right-wing president of Brazil has warned of serious consequences in case of victory of the left in the Argentine elections.

The surprising result of Sunday primaries in Argentina suggests that President Mauricio Macri is about to lose in the presidential first round of October against Alberto Fernandez, the leftist who competes with the former president Cristina Kirchner as a formula companion. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro does not hide his wish to see Mr Macri remain in office, while Mr Fernández has publicly welcomed the criticism of a man qualified as "racist, violent and misogynist".

In Brazil, they fear the "protectionism" that would come with Alberto Fernández

With the victory of Bolsonaro last year, the historically protectionist economies of Brazil and Argentina have aligned the presidents with ideological issues. While Macri's affable and professional personality clashes with Bolsonaro's harsh speech, both share similar economic objectives, as evidenced by the recent agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, the South American trading block. A deterioration of relations between the two most powerful economies of the block it can lock in the ratification of this agreement and billions of dollars in bilateral trade.

Brazil and Argentina account for nearly two-thirds of the US $ 4 billion economic output in South America. Argentina is Brazil's largest trading partner in the region, totaling nearly $ 30 billion in trade each year.

Brazil is the largest buyer of Argentine exports in the world, according to data from the International Monetary Fund.

In his first comments after the vote, Bolsonaro said that the return of "Lefty" power in Argentina could trigger a wave of migration to Brazil, reproducing the situation that occurs in the northern regions of the country where tens of thousands of Venezuelans have arrived because of the economic crisis that this country is going through.

"We do not want our Argentine brothers to flee to Brazil" Bolsonaro said in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, bordering Argentina.

Nowadays, this seems unlikely. According to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, about 4 million Venezuelans have fled the country in recent years and about 90% of them do not live in poverty. In comparison, 27% of Argentines live in poverty, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

In June, Bolsonaro enthusiastically supported Macri during a visit to Buenos Aires. After this trip, Fernandez went to Brazil to meet former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at the Curitiba city prison in the south of the country. where he remains accused of corruption. Monday night, he said that the former president was a "political prisoner". Lula and Kirchner have long been allies.

Alberto F. criticized Bolsonaro: "I am delighted that a misogynist and violent speaks ill of me"

Bolsonaro's comments "show that people are worried about what they remember when Cristina was president," said Earl Anthony Wayne, former US ambbadador to Argentina's governments. George W. Bush and Barack Obama. "Right now, there is a lot of concern."

During his tenure, Kirchner nationalized pension funds, set up exchange controls and manipulated economic statistics. Meanwhile, Fernández has intensified investor fears by committing to changing the terms of a $ 56 billion deal reached by Argentina and the IMF.

Fernández also criticized the free trade agreement signed in June between Mercosur and the EU. He badured that "There is nothing to celebrate but many reasons to worry."