Argentina's newly established leading presidential contender is throwing doubt on a newly signed regional trade pact with Europe and also feuding with one of his country's partners in the deal, the far-right president of neighbouring Brazil.
Alberto Fernndez thumped President Mauricio Macri by 15 percentage points in Sunday's primary voting making his slate, which includes ex-President Cristina Fernndez as his running mate, the clear leader for October's main election and prompting a stock market collapse among investors worried about their left-leaning populist policies.
Fernndez raised doubts on Monday night about the European Union's trade deal with the South American trade bloc Mercosur that was signed in June but not yet ratified.
"That agreement doesn't exist, never existed," he told Net TV. "They signed a sort of protocol letter in which they set out a series of topics to deal with."
Alberto Fernndez said there is "no doubt" that the world has globalised, "and to renounce that is a stupidity, to deny that is a stupidity. The issue is how you enter into globalisation."
Alberto Fernndez said there are some early indications that some aspects of the deal would be "disadvantageous for Argentina. If those things are fixed, welcome for Argentina."
Even so, Alberto Fernndez said, "We are going to get on splendidly with Brazil. It is always going to be our principal partner."
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