Walter Schmidt
11/07/2020 10:55 PM
Clarín.com
Opinion
Updated 11/07/2020 23:32
The role of the United States in international politics is no longer decisive as it was in the last century in light of China's leading role, but it is transcendental, to the point that
the perspective of a government such
as that of Argentina can change with the alternation of power in the White House.
Donald Trump was the great ally of Mauricio Macri
, which allowed his government to obtain a phenomenal aid through a stand-by of US $ 54 billion.
The arguments were not economic but
personal and geopolitical
, to the point that none other than the legendary Henry Kissinger intervened in that negotiation in May 2019, who, at 96 years old, called then-IMF number two David Lipton to push that disbursement with the argument of "Chinese terror".
That is to say, the landing of the "investments" of the Xi Jinping government in Latin America.
Outside the Trump race, the one who suffers from it is no longer Macri - because he is not in power - but the Brazilian Jair Bolsonaro, who bet heavily on the outgoing US president in the campaign.
"What Bolsonaro did by interfering in the electoral campaign of another country like the United States, is an example of what not to do," they
indicated from the Government.
Bolsonaro not only lost his political bet, he could also lose the patronage of the United States.
Therefore, although in the Casa Rosada the officialization of the triumph of the Democratic candidate did not produce excitement, far from it, it did open a strong internal expectation:
that Alberto Fernández will now become a key interlocutor for Biden.
"Alberto clearly in this context is going to have a greater role because Argentina has the great chance of being a balancing power in the region,"
said an official.
The
political instability in Latin America
coupled with the wrong strategy Trump to toughen sanctions against the regime in Venezuela Nicolas Maduro and Cuba, with
no result, Democrats seem to
call for a new era.
In the Foreign Ministry they believe that the defense of human rights and greater dialogue to address regional conflicts are part of Biden's agenda on which Fernández agrees.
There
are
also
other less altruistic interests such as energy
- once again Vaca Muerta - a specialty in family businesses of the newly elected president of the United States.
In a more political tone, an important leader of the Frente de Todos observes that Alberto
“may end up using him as a link with a shocked Chile, a Bolivia with the return of socialism, with a belligerent Brazil and an Ecuador that is going to undergo a process of change because the government of Lenin Moreno is wrong ”.
They point to this logic of reconfiguration of relations in the region, a gesture.
During his stay this Sunday in Bolivia for the inauguration of Luis Arce, Colombian President
Iván Duque
- a kind of well-mannered Bolsonaro -
requested to meet with Fernández.
The most urgent thing for the Government
in a bilateral agenda that will take time to redefine is
the negotiation with the IMF and the support of the North American Treasury for the Argentine proposal
through its representative on the board.
He is currently Mark Rosen, who they assume will be replaced as soon as Biden takes office in January.
"We also continue to seek the support of Washington, beyond the change of government,"
said a source from the negotiations.
Gone seems to have been the time of the
anti-American discourse of Kirchnerism at a time when the president was Barack Obama and his vice, Biden
.
Like when former President Cristina Kirchner in 2015, during the Summit of the Americas, harshly criticized Obama for standing up for the Maduro regime and considering it “ridiculous that the United States considers a threat” to Venezuela.
Some time later, Obama himself, outside the White House, returned courtesies by evaluating that Cristina's policies "were always anti-American" and that she "resorted to rhetoric that probably dates from the 60s and 70s and not today" .
In the Casa Rosada they assure that
this "prescribed",
that the world is another, and the different political and diplomatic officials take great pains to affirm:
"The relationship will be between Biden and Alberto."
Not with Cristina
.
Even, to reflect coincidences, they emphasize that both the US president-elect and the Argentine are
in favor of closing the rift and unity.
“When you listen to the speeches of Biden, Kamala Harris or Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, it is easier to empathize than with Trump because there are values that we share: the importance of inclusion and diversity in society, the gender equality agenda, the the need to eradicate inequality, the defense of human rights, the fight against climate change
”, argue with epic tone close to Alberto F.
Another of those who has some link with Biden and the Democratic team is the head of the Chamber of Deputies,
Sergio Massa
.
In fact, in 2016, when Macri first took office and invited him to the Davos forum, the then president met with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, while Massa was in a friendly dialogue
with Biden
, then Obama's vice president.
There were also
American contacts with Massa and his team back in 2013
, when the Tigrense had become the new opposition leader after defeating Kirchnerism in the legislative elections and stopping the attempts of "eternal Cristina."
One of Biden's current advisers,
Dan Restrepo, was in regular dialogue with Massa or whoever was his campaign manager: Alberto Fernández.
In addition to Restrepo, there are other advisers for Latin America to the Democratic president-elect such as
Juan González
, who about two weeks ago, referring to the relationship with Argentina, admitted that it “deteriorated” under the presidencies of George W. Bush and Néstor Kirchner. and that with Obama and Cristina Kirchner an unsuccessful attempt was made to restore it.