UPDATE 1-Bolsonaro says no change to Brazil-Argentina trade after Fernandez swearing-in

Brazil's president, Jair Bolsonaro, said on Monday that trade with Argentina will continue as normal after President-elect Alberto Fernández's inauguration later this week.

"Our trade with Argentina remains the same, no problem, it will not change at all," Bolsonaro told journalists outside his official residence in Brasilia, when asked about Fernández's inauguration. Brazil has decided at the last minute to send Vice President Hamilton Mourao to Tuesday's swearing-in of Fernández.

Earlier, Bolsonaro said he would not attend the ceremony and would send no senior government representative, despite Argentina and Brazil's trade ties being worth $27 billion last year. Just before departing for Buenos Aires on Monday evening, Mourao said in a tweet that Bolsonaro's decision was a "political gesture."

Bolsonaro and Fernandez have exchanged barbs recently. Bolsonaro called Fernández and his supporters "leftist bandits," prompting Fernandez to accuse the Brazilian president of being "misogynist" and "racist."