Rousseff assures Argentina is a 'strategic actor' for Brazil's foreign policy

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff affirmed that Argentina is one of the “strategic actors” of her country’s foreign policy and anticipated that her visit to Buenos Aires will be focused in the commercial cooperation, the nuclear energy area and the coordination of multilateral organizations.

“Argentina is one of the main actors, one of the strategic elements for our foreign policy,” Rousseff told the Brazilian press during a rally in Porto Alegre, where she met with the Governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Tarso Genro.

Her first presidential trip will be to Buenos Aires, where she will arrive on Monday along with Foreign Relations Minister, Antonio Patriota; Treasury Minister, Guido Mantega; Social Development Minister, Tereza Campelo; Energy Minister, Edson Lobao; Science and Technology Minister, Aloizio Mercadante; and Development, Industry and Commerce Minister, Fernando Pimentel.

Rousseff admitted that in the past, Brazil “had turned its back to Argentina, and only looked to Europe and the United States,” but now “we have to sense that the development of our country implies the development of the region.”