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The K and the virus distanced Argentina from Chile

2021-01-27T02:34:31.013Z


All the governments of the center or center-right region are suspected of Kirchnerism. The case of Bolivia, Joe Biden and the bet in Ecuador.


01/26/2021 20:56

  • Clarín.com

  • Opinion

Updated 01/26/2021 8:56 PM

Alberto Fernández made his second official visit to a country in the region yesterday.

To a neighbor.

He met in Santiago with the president of Chile, Sebastián Piñera.

Last November 20 he had crossed the Río de la Plata to share a barbecue with Luis Lacalle Pou at Estancia Anchorena.

Both are heads of state distant from the ideological mosaic - or something like that - that characterizes the official coalition in Argentina, the Frente de Todos.

The President recognized that "in this difficult time," Piñera "called me more than once" to ask me

what he could do for us and what we could do together

.

However, he lamented that "if we had been closer together and more united," surely we could have handled things better.

As if by some blow of spell the bilateral relations have not worked as intended.

Fabiola Yañez, Alberto Fernandez, Sebastián Piñera and Cecilia Morel during the official visit of the Argentine president to Chile.

Photo: EFE

The government's foreign policy has been the one that, in truth,

did not work during the first year

.

Because that performance always sounded more aware of the internal political needs in the FdT than of the objective interests of the Nation.

Everything that fits within the neoliberal vaguism that Kirchnerism uses to differentiate itself from the rest, is never to their liking.

In that regard, Alberto had to make his debut with little luck.

The region, except Venezuela, is

dominated by center or center-right administrations

.

Suspicious for the K. Only in recent months did Bolivia resurface, after the victory of the economist Luis Arce, a disciple - it will be seen how far - of the leader Evo Morales.

Another Argentine hope is deposited on February 7 in Ecuador.

There the correista Andrés Arauz has many chances of succeeding.

Former minister of the leader convicted of corruption, residing in Belgium.

Received by Cristina Fernández in the Senate, in a clear gesture of participation in the Ecuadorian campaign.

Cristina, along with Andrés Aráuz Galarza, Correa's candidate.

Such was the loneliness of the Argentine president in the beginning that he decided to

anchor regional politics in a pale Puebla Group

.

Progressive dye essay.

The other side of the Lima Group that promotes democratization in Venezuela.

It was created in 2017, there are also Argentina and Mexico, but with the ungrateful companies of the United States - we will have to do with Joe Biden - Jair Bolsonaro's Brazil, Canada and Piñera's Chile, among many.

That anchor was losing consistency, above all, due to the positions of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the president of Mexico.

He bet very ostensibly on the reelection of Donald Trump.

He was slow to acknowledge Biden's victory.

In his first dialogue, he even surprised the Democratic president with a phrase: "Know that Trump was very respectful of Mexico."

He omitted any reference to the construction of the border wall.

Alberto greeted

Biden's arrival at the White House like a balm

.

For two reasons.

The influence that the United States may have in the negotiation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the US $ 44 billion debt inherited from Macrismo.

The loss of regional political volume that that victory produced in Bolsonaro's Brazil.

Fully identified with Trump.

In fact, the Brazilian president began to hint at a twist.

Kirchner's internism did not miss that opportunity either.

While Alberto was the first Latin American president to acknowledge Biden's victory and to greet him warmly after his inauguration, the Foreign Ministry, led by Felipe Solá, warned about the danger of "repeating the attempt at disunity among our peoples as in the previous stage." .

For the expert Carlos Pérez Llana, it was a book logic within the FdT:

the need to satisfy the intransigent sectors

.

To the detriment of presidential politics.

Alberto has now made his first approach to Chile with an uncertain horizon.

This year will be the constituent vote for the constitutional reform.

Preceded by violent expressions of social discontent.

Next year Piñera will be replaced.

With a fragmented political scene.

Both on the side of the Concertación, the governing coalition for most of the post-Pinochet cycle, and on the right or center-right.

The President had and has a good personal relationship with Piñera.

But

Kirchnerism never allowed an exhaustive development between the countries due to the political sign of the Chilean president

.

The pandemic also deepened divisions.

In this case, due to Alberto's errors that could also be induced by inmate K.

In May, at the outbreak of the Covid-19, Alberto exalted the alleged Argentine successes in contrast to the failure that Chile was showing.

Those were the times when he appeared flanked by Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, the head of the City, and Axel Kicillof, the governor of Buenos Aires.

The excess moved a reply from the then Minister of Health, Jaime Mañalich, who called any comparison "unhelpful".

In August, both presidents had a videoconference in which they celebrated the elimination of roaming charges for mobile phone communications between the countries.

But only 48 days later, in another of the alleged keynote presentations for the pandemic, Alberto insisted on disqualifying Chile.

He mentioned his collapse.

The relationship became tense again.

But Santiago did a lot to keep him from climbing.

The numbers of the pandemic began to speak for themselves

.

Chile has almost 710 thousand infected and ranks 24th in this regard. Argentina is heading towards 1,900,000 and is among the thirteen most affected nations.

Then came the race for vaccines.

Common denominator throughout the world.

Chile closed a first deal with the Pfizer-BioNtech laboratory (American-German) and designed a very detailed immunization plan, which has

difficulties because the supply of the product is carried out late

.

Argentina tied its luck to Sputnik V and has a diffuse vaccination program.

Russia does not have the production capacity to fulfill the commitment made.

There is also the agreement with AstraZeneca, British-Swedish, whose vaccines would only be available in the autumn.

Perhaps when the second or third wave of Covid-19 lands in the region.

With this panorama and the chronology of the year of bilateral ties between Argentina and Chile, it is difficult to understand the regret (not having worked together) that Alberto launched yesterday during his visit to Santiago.

Look also

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Source: clarin

All news articles on 2021-01-27

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