Buenos Aires, December 20 (NA) -- Javier Milei took part in the 'family photo' with a view of the Iguazu Falls and participates in the Mercosur summit in Foz do Iguaçu.
The meeting, which started a few minutes after 9:30 this Saturday, brought together the leaders of the block with a central objective: to define a firm stance regarding the back-and-forth of the European Union regarding the free trade agreement that has been pending for over two decades.
According to what the Argentine News Agency was able to find out, the group photo showed the coldness that dominates the relationship between the leaders of the region's two largest economies.
Although the Argentine president greeted his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the gesture was merely protocolary, without smiles and with a physical distance that was maintained throughout the entire pre-event.
While Lula chatted animatedly with Santiago Peña (Paraguay) and Yamandú Orsi (Uruguay) about the landscape, Milei remained somewhat apart, located between Peña and the Panamanian José Raúl Mulino.
The family photo of the leaders. Photo: NA Agency.
Behind closed doors, the climate is marked by annoyance at Europe's new snub, which postponed the signing of the treaty until January due to pressure from the agricultural sectors of France and Italy.
In this context, Paraguay's Foreign Minister, Rubén Ramírez, was blunt in stating the bloc's position: "We are willing to move forward, understanding that Europe has its deadlines to meet its internal institutional issues, but at the same time, the deadlines are not infinite."
IP Cold greeting between Milei and Lula at the start of the Mercosur summit
Accompanied by Minister Pablo Quirno, Milei joined the deliberations at 9:40, immediately after the flashes in front of the waterfalls.
The Argentine president's agenda is very limited: there are no scheduled camaraderie lunches with his peers or bilateral meetings, which reinforces the strictly institutional nature of his passage through Brazil to discuss the region's commercial future.
