President Luis Lacalle Pou greeted Lula da Silva as the new president of Brazil and assured that he “trusts” in working for a “modern and open to the world” Mercosur.
“Likewise, we hope to continue and improve the very good bilateral relations,” he added on his Twitter account.
We salute the president-elect of Brazil @LulaOfficial
We trust to work for a modern Mercosur that is open to the world.
Likewise, we hope to continue and improve the very good bilateral relations.– Luis Lacalle Pou (@LuisLacallePou) October 30, 2022
Lula was elected president of Brazil after defeating Bolsonaro in a second round Very tight this Sunday. Lula obtained 50.84% of the votes compared to 49.16% for the current president of the neighboring country, after reaching more than 99% of the vote.
In this way, Brazil takes a turn to the left as of January 1, 2023, when the conservative Bolsonaro leaves the presidency.
In this context, Lacalle Pou —who is back from his trip to Japan— insisted with make Mercosur more flexiblealthough, with the change of sign in the administration of the largest partner in the bloc, an unknown factor opens up in this regard.
The president of Uruguay had the moderate support of Bolsonaro regarding his vision of Mercosur and the possibility of moving forward with a Free Trade Agreement with China, although the current president of Brazil never made a clear statement on this matter.
For his part, the senator and leader of Cabildo Abierto Guido Manini Ríos also greeted the president-elect of Brazil. Through his Twitter account, Manini posted: “We salute the Brazilian people for their exemplary democratic day… We congratulate the President-elect, Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva, and we hope that Brazil and Mercosur take the path to development that their peoples deserve…”
We salute the Brazilian people for their exemplary democratic journey… We congratulate the President-elect, Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva, and we hope that Brazil and Mercosur will follow the path to development that their peoples deserve…@Cabildo_UY @IreneMoreiraUy
— Gen. Guido Manini (@GuidoManiniRios) October 30, 2022
Manini had said that if he had to vote in Brazil he would do it for Bolsonaro.