Analyst says that with Lula and Petro, South America will advance in integration

Sputnik – It was not only the Brazilian voter who expected the results of last Sunday’s elections (30). The elections that marked the return of former President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) to the presidency were closely watched by Latin American leaders in light of the possibility of rapprochement between Brazil and the countries of the region.

The concern of Latin American leaders was evident with the swift recognition and celebration of Labor’s victory over incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro (PL). On Monday (31) Lula received his first international visit after his election: the President of Argentina, Alberto Fernandez.

In an interview with the Mundioka Sputnik Brasil podcast, historian João Claudio Petillo, professor of history at Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ) and member of the Center for Studies in the Americas (Nucleas-UERJ), said he believes that “Lola will accelerate the integration of the South.” He pointed out that “this is one of the first things that the president-elect will direct.”

The expert says Bolsonaro’s government has left South American countries aside during its four-year term, a situation Lula has already indicated he intends to reverse. In his first speech as president-elect, B. T. “Brazil is back” on the world stage and emphasized regional initiatives.

Petillo believes that the integration process in South America will be strengthened by the president-elect, as it did in his first two terms, between 2003 and 2010. However, this time there is a new element, which favors greater progress: now, Colombia has a leftist president.

Gustavo Petro, who took office as Colombia’s president in August 2022, was the first Latin American head of state to acknowledge Lula’s victory on social media, even before the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) confirmed that he had indeed been elected numerically. Specialists who previously heard Sputnik Brasil have already indicated that the “South Americanization” of Colombia’s foreign policy promoted by Petro might favor a regional rapprochement for common development in the event that Lula wins.

“The novelty of having a progressive president in Colombia will spark this discussion about integration. See, if we can move forward on political and economic issues [da integração]Collectively, South America can become self-sufficient in a number of things. If we raise this discussion, if we can advance within the productive sector at the level of industry integration in South America, we can make quantum leaps in a short time,” Petillo said in an interview with journalists Melina Saad and Thiana Oliveira.

“The Global South is the way out for the development of Brazil and other South American countries that are going through a difficult time, such as Argentina, with problems of inflation, Chile, and Colombia. All these countries can achieve economic improvement from this movement of integration and transition, which Brazil tends to lead in the international scenario ” , highlights the specialist.

Pettilo stresses that South America must count on the support of China and Russia in this process.

“It is clear that China, Russia, India and South Africa, through the BRICS, will be partners in this. Today there is no animosity between Mercosur and BRICS. There is no animosity between Brazil, Russia, China and India. We can act as a complementary economy.”

“Lula knows that part of the Brazilian solution lies in his ability to link with other countries to attract investment and get buyers. Lula needs markets and investments,” he says.

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