UPDATE 1-Brazil's Bolsonaro declares Mercosur will soon sign EU trade deal

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday said the Mercosur bloc of South American countries will soon sign a trade deal with the European Union, and thanked Argentine President Mauricio Macri for his efforts in pushing for the commercial pact.

Speaking in Buenos Aires, Bolsonaro also asked Argentine voters to remain rational when voting in this year's presidential election, saying nobody wanted "new Venezuelas" in the region - a thinly veiled dig aimed at former leftist President Cristina Kirchner. In a Facebook Live transmission later on Thursday, Brazilian Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said that closer ties between Brazil and Argentina were going to revitalize Mercosur, a group that Bolsonaro and others in his government have long criticized as an ideologically charged impediment to regional growth.