ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½

He emerged almost an hour later, but did not speak to the crowd.

Kirchner, the standard-bearer of the Argentine left for over two decades, was convicted of "fraudulent administration" while president between 2007 and 2015.

The 72-year-old began serving a six-year sentence last month after losing a Supreme Court appeal, and has also been barred from holding public office again.

Lula found Kirchner "in good health, strong and determined to fight," he said in a message on social media platform X.

"In addition to expressing my solidarity with her for everything she has been through, I wished her all the strength she needed to continue fighting, with the same determination that has characterized her career," he wrote. 

Kirchner hailed the visit as "much more than a personal gesture: it was a political act of solidarity," in her own message on X. 

She drew a parallel between her fate and that of Lula's, describing how he also was imprisoned -- in his case, for bribe-taking and money-laundering -- before being voted back into office.

The meeting took center stage on Thursday at the biannual summit of the Mercosur regional bloc, made up of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Bolivia.

There, Lula was the guest of Argentina's libertarian President Javier Milei -- who has made no secret of his disdain of the leftist leader, previously branding him a "Communist" and "corrupt."

The two had no bilateral meetings on Thursday. 

Lula took over the rotating presidency of the bloc from Milei at the end of the summit.

mry-pbl/ial/st/acb