Brazil’s Lula Sides With Massa in Argentina Vote as Regional Split Widens

  • Argentines to decide between Massa, Milei in Sunday election
  • “Think about what kind of South America you want,” Lula urges
Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Argentina’s Alberto Fernandez at South America Summit in Brasilia on May 30.Photographer: Ton Molina/Bloomberg
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Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva backed Argentina’s Sergio Massa ahead of Sunday’s presidential election, the latest leader taking a side in the heated contest that has highlighted Latin America’s deepening ideological divisions.

Although he did not mention either candidate by name, Lula painted the race between Massa — Argentina’s economy minister — and self-described “anarcho-capitalist” Javier Milei as a battle for South America’s future, nodding toward Milei’s pledges to stop doing business with Brazil and abandon the four-nation Mercosur trade bloc.