The elected president of Argentina, Alberto Fernandez, chose to visit Mexico as the destination of his first foreign tour since his victory in the presidential election, in a break of tradition.
Fernandez met with President of Mexico Y Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in Mexico City.
In the past, Argentina’s new presidents have traditionally made their neighbors Brazil a destination for their first foreign visit.
Relations between Argentina and Brazil were strained in the aftermath of last October’s elections, and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said last week that he would not attend Fernandez’s inauguration.
The far-right Brazilian president has cooperated closely with outgoing conservative President Mauricio Macri.
Bolsonaro had publicly supported Macri against Fernandez, when he was a center-left candidate, who won a landslide victory and was due to take office on December 10.
After Fernandez won the election, Bolsonaro said that Argentina “made a wrong choice,” noting that he was “preparing for the worst” and that left-leaning Fernandez’s plans “would be futile.”
The Brazilian president also criticizes Fernandez ‘support for his leftist predecessor, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, who is serving a 12-year prison sentence for his conviction for corruption.
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