Daniel Scioli: “Wheat exports to Brazil …

From Brasilia

The Argentine Ambassador to Brazil, Daniel Scioli, will visit this Monday the facilities of the company that will produce the Sputnik V vaccine in Brasilia. “I spoke with the president of Unión Química, Fernando Marques, to mark the trip to the laboratory. At the time of the call, he was in the United States embarking for Moscow “to close the negotiations on the vaccine, explains Scioli. In this interview with PageI12, the Ambassador evokes the state of relations between Brazil and Argentina after the shock generated by the announcement of a measure that would affect the export of Argentine wheat, for the benefit of North American farmers.

– The problem was resolved?

– President Bolsonaro made a big gesture when he received me for my birthday (January 13) while meeting his Secretary for Strategic Affairs, Admiral Viana Rocha. I took the opportunity to ask him about wheat exports and he assured me they were guaranteed. He also told me that Argentina and Brazil are brothers and that we must continue to deepen the relationship.

Scioli’s response indicates that a disagreement has been resolved which, if deepened, could trigger a crisis between two governments with positions that do not always coincide, to say the least, on issues like Mercosur, regional political integration and even in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Argentine ambassador and former vice-president sparingly tastes a leafy cigar while taking stock of his first five months of work with a large work table, full of reports, where social distancing is widely respected. He stands out as his main diplomatic achievement the videoconference between Presidents Alberto Fernández and Jair Bolsonaro. This virtual meeting held on November 30 ended a “toxic” phase of the relationship, he said on the first floor of the embassy, ​​one of the most modern in Brasilia. During more than an hour of conversation, Scioli reviewed his intense business agenda and did not rule out a trip from Fernández to Brazil on a date to be defined. His medium-term bet is to advance a Vaca Muerta gas export project. The dialogue was interrupted for a few minutes due to a phone call from the Minister of Health, Ginés González García.

– Have you discussed the vaccine with the minister?

— Yes of course, Argentina already has a vaccination program underway, it will receive the AstraZeneca vaccine, it is already receiving Sputnik and eventually it will receive the Coronavac (China) produced in São Paulo. I am available for whatever my government needs in the area of ​​health.

– What information do you have on the production of Sputnik?

– This Monday, January 18, the Brazilian firm Unión Química starts producing with a pilot test. In the first three months they estimate they will produce 4 million doses and then they will increase. They will produce it in Brasilia and the division will be in São Paulo. But they still do not have the authorization of the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) to vaccinate.

– Can it be exported to Argentina before having the approval to vaccinate in Brazil?

– It seems to me that they will apply it first in Brazil and then, finally, they will export it, but by then Argentina will have already received millions and millions of vaccines. Argentina is at the forefront on this issue.

– What’s new on the Chinese vaccine developed in São Paulo?

– We have an agreement signed with San Pablo but there is still no concrete news, I will see Governor Joao Doria on January 26 at the Palacio de los Bandeirantes (seat of government), and there we will see if there is some progress. We have to see what happens, because Coronavac still does not have an authorization from Anvisa.

Tension in Maradona

On December 10, 2019, Jair Bolsonaro was absent from the inauguration of Alberto Fernández, after having made campaign for the re-election of Mauricio Macri. Never since the democratic restoration has an elected Argentine president received such a hostile signal from Brasilia. A political and diplomatic panorama not easy for Scioli.

– With what prospects did you end up in Brasilia?

– I came with an instruction and a very clear mandate from President Alberto Fernández, to work with Brazil, so that Brazil is once again our first trading partner, to work in dialogue between the ministers of the two governments. From this clear approval from the President, we began to work quickly for abandon a toxic agenda of disagreements and shift to a positive agenda because together, we will overcome the consequences of the pandemic more quickly.

– How was your first meeting with Bolsonaro?

– It was very picturesque, it was on the occasion of the presentation of the credentials, in August, I said to him: look, I know Brazil since I was little, the people are wonderful … I was already governor of the province of Buenos Aires, I was vice-president, I lost the elections by one point with his friend Macri. I told him I had come to work. And I asked him, are you going to help me? And he said, “Daniel, tell me what you need,” and from there there was a series of meetings with all sectors of government.

– This is how you paved the way for Fernández-Bolsonaro videoconferencing?

– During this first conversation, I told Bolsonaro that my goal was to have a meeting with President Fernández on November 30, a historic date, during the celebration of the Day of Friendship between Argentina and the Brazil. And he told me he was ready to participate. Finally, the videoconference was very pleasant, very pleasant, it was going to last 15 or 20 minutes and last over an hour. The feeling that this gave me is that both acted like statesmen by giving priority to the interests of their country in this international context marked by the pandemic. In the middle of the conference, former President Sarney appeared, his attendance was a good idea.

– Is it true that in the videoconference, Bolsonaro spoke of Maradona as a gesture to break the ice?

– Yes, there was a reference to Maradona, and a few days later, Bolsonaro sent his condolences for the death.

– What’s your next goal?

– Organize a business mega-summit in the Federation of Industries of São Paulo, with top businessmen from both countries, as well as SMEs from both countries, and that the presidents can be present. It would be the first week of March. Of course, no one can predict what will happen next month when we talk about the second wave of the virus. He can not guarantee the presence of presidents, but the will is there.

Mercosur

Shortly after the confirmation of Bolsonaro’s victory in 2018, his future Minister of the Economy, Paulo Guedes, announced that Mercosur would cease to be a priority. Once the administration began, Bolsonaro showed little interest in the block. Disagreements permeated the group’s meetings launched in March 1991 and became clear with the dissimilar positions taken by Buenos Aires and Brasilia in the face of the coup in Bolivia. On the economic front, Bolsonaro-Guedes’ neoliberal proposal is to put an end to the common external tariff, an essential condition to guarantee the market among the members of the group. Alberto Fernández took over the pro tempore presidency last month with a promise to revive a bloc that was simply anemic.

– It does not seem easy to give new impetus to Mercosur.

– With Alberto’s presidency and with the spirit that all Mercosur presidents have shown, I see a stage of resurgence, renaissance with a renewed agenda that concerns the integration of agriculture, energy, finance and defense. Here is the Minister (Defense) Agustín Rossi who had a meeting with his colleague Fernando Azevedo e Silva. It was important.

I hope that the 30th anniversary of Mercosur (first semester 2021) under the chairmanship of Alberto will generate a renewed commitment from the member countries. By assuming the rotating presidency, he made it clear that rebuilding the relationship with Brazil is something that has a positive impact on other partners.

– Are we facing a Mercosur more focused on the economy?

– There is a consensus on a more vigorous Mercosur, by broadening the agreement with Israel, it is a question which is the subject of a great consensus. A topic that I discussed with the Israeli Ambassador to Brazil, Yossi Shelley, I discussed with our Foreign Ministry and with Itamaraty. I believe that we must move forward on subjects that are not conflicting. Alberto’s visit to Israel should be remembered and the Brazilian government’s link with Israel is very important.

– The European Union has suggested that it will not ratify the agreement with Mercosur because of Bolsonaro’s environmental policy.

– I do not want to make any intervention in the domestic politics of Brazil or in matters which go beyond my agenda as Ambassador to Brazil defending the interests of Argentina, my lifeline is as follows.

– What is the trade situation between Argentina and Brazil?

– In October, Brazil was once again our number one trading partner, overtaking China, and that was one of our big goals. The stamp that I have given to the embassy, ​​beyond the diplomas, is that it is executive and commercial. I speak with ministers here and there, governors here and there, the president here and there. I have already visited eight states but it is a huge country, I still have thousands and thousands of kilometers to cover, now is the time to go deep inside.

– Are there any infrastructure projects?

– Energy complementarity with gas pipelines, thermoelectric power stations, that will be a qualitative leap, the agenda for the future is energy. I believe that Vaca Muerte is a virtuous circle, I spoke about it last week in Buenos Aires with the Minister of Energy, Darío Martínez, it was assessed that he should make a visit here to meet with gas producers , I promote face to face meetings, there is nothing better than in person. The feasibility of building a gas pipeline from Vaca Muerta to Uruguayana and from there to Porto Alegre is being studied. We know the demand is there, if we had gas at the Brazilian border they would buy it tomorrow, but it’s not there yet. These are the big things we think about, I talked about it with the Minister of Energy, Admiral Bento Albuquerque, I talked about it with investors, I talked about it with gas buyers, even the Uruguay would participate.