(Bloomberg) — Brazil’s government scrapped plans to send a delegate to Alberto Fernandez’s inauguration ceremony in Argentina, representing an escalation in tensions between South America’s top economies.President Jair Bolsonaro has opted not to send anyone to the Dec. 10 swearing-in ceremony in Buenos Aires, according to a Brazilian official with direct knowledge of the matter. The move comes after he decided that Citizenship Minister Osmar Terra will no longer represent Brazil at the event.Relations between Brazil and Argentina, which are traditionally political and trade allies, have worsened in recent weeks amid an ideological clash between Fernandez’s left-wing movement and Bolsonaro’s hard-right administration. The spat has also raised prospects that Latin America’s largest economy may pull out of the Mercosur customs union – which counts Brazil and Argentina as its two largest members – if differences persist.The press office for Brazil’s presidency didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment via email.Hours after his election victory, Fernandez set the stage for the first diplomatic tiff between the two countries by calling for the release of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a leftist icon and Bolsonaro adversary. Bolsonaro later said he wouldn’t call Fernandez to congratulate him and wouldn’t attend the Argentine presidential inauguration, marking the first time in recent history for a Brazilian head of state.Read more: Bolsonaro to Skip Fernandez Inauguration as Argentina Spat GrowsNewspaper Clarin reported earlier that Bolsonaro made his decision after he was annoyed by a Brazilian delegation led by lower house Speaker Rodrigo Maia, which met Fernandez in Argentina last week. Bolsonaro was aware of the delegation’s travel plans, Clarin reported Maia as saying.Terra had been preparing to meet with both Fernandez and outgoing President Mauricio Macri, as well as local business leaders.To contact the reporter on this story: Simone Iglesias in Brasília at [email protected] contact the editors responsible for this story: Juan Pablo Spinetto at [email protected], Matthew Malinowski, Linus ChuaFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
