Brazil’s Rousseff urges dialogue with Argentina
April 26, 2013, 10:19 am

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff (left) and her Argentine counterpart Cristina Fernández in Buenos Aires, Argentina [Xinhua]

During a joint conference with her Argentine peer Cristina Fernández in Buenos Aires President Rousseff said, “Our reply to the world crisis has been and will be more and more efforts in social inclusion.”

Rousseff arrived in Buenos Aires on Thursday to address a broad agenda of common topics, particularly trade, integration and investments.

The Brazilian president said she was certain the Brazilian Vale mining company “would find a way to reach an agreement with the Argentine authorities” on a suspended investment project.

Vale, one of Brazil’s main corporations and an international heavy-weight in minerals trade announced a couple of months ago that because of ‘costs and inflation’ it was abandoning a potassium development investment in the Argentine province of Mendoza, estimated at $6 billion and which left 4,000 people out of a job.

It was to be the largest single investment in Argentina in decades and would give the province of Mendoza a huge boost.

It included a railway to transport the mineral to an export port close to Bahia Blanca.

Both Brazil and Argentina also put their weight squarely behind the newly elected Venezuelan president, dismissing talk about a recount.

During the conference, Rousseff underlined “he took office in a democratic way” which represents “a role of stability for the region”, and called to fight for a shared region of ethical and moral principles.

The Argentine president also echoed her full support to the “democratic President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro.

Fernandez said both presidents were “very happy” with the meeting, as she announced they would both be meeting in Brazil in three months time.

The heads of state are also “discussing automobile industry development between Argentina and Brazil”.

With inputs from Agencies