Natasha Niebieskikwiat
04/02/2021 17:41
Clarín.com
Politics
Updated 04/02/2021 17:41
Felipe Solá held his
first conversation with Joseph Biden's Chancellor, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on Friday the 2nd.
It was a telephone call between the two, which
lasted 55 minutes,
and which had been agreed a few days ago, government sources reported, after the reports in Washington.
Asked by
Clarín
, the Foreign Minister's spokesman confirmed the communication and also that both officials advanced on an
eventual trip by Alberto Fernández to Washington,
specifically to see Biden in a bilateral meeting at the White House.
Alberto F. and Biden had a first and only call in late November.
Although they did not speak of dates for a presidential bilateral, the Government is seeking to make it in the first months of the year, if the evolution of the pandemic allows it.
In fact, the United States has not yet set a date or place for this year's Summit of the Americas that would have to take place in that country.
In Buenos Aires the call came from the Chancellor's office on the 13th floor of the Foreign Ministry, and they
accompanied Solá, Vice Chancellor Pablo Tettamanti and the Chief of Staff, Guillermo Justo Cháves.
The other negotiations are being followed in Washington by Ambassador Jorge Argüello.
In the region Blinken spoke with his peers from Colombia, Brazil, Chile and Mexico.
Always according to Argentine sources, Solá welcomed the
return of the Democrats to the international multilateral bodies,
among which he highlighted United Nations agencies, but especially the return of the United States to the Paris Agreement, taking into account that Fernández seeks a approach to the Biden administration through the issue of fighting climate change that Donald Trump despised.
Biden in fact invited Alberto F. to participate in the climate summit that will be broadcast from Washington on April 22 and 23 and in which
only 40 countries will participate, including Argentina.
They also spoke of the United States' participation in the mechanism for the provision of vaccines against Covid 19 known as the Covax mechanism.
Solá introduced a highly sensitive issue for Argentina because he told Blinken that Argentina wants all vaccines regardless of their origin.
This confirms that the Government now wants to reach agreements with Pfizer and all those that may now come, at a time when this country continues to be able to comply with a massive vaccination plan against Covid 19.
In the Palacio San Martín they also pointed out this Friday that
Blinken addressed the nuclear issue and highlighted Argentina as "a leader in non-proliferation matters."
The sources consulted did not want to detail whether in the conversation that Solá and Blinken had talked about the situation in Venezuela, where the Argentine government also maintains
strong differences
with the Democrats,
just as they did with Donald Trump.
Biden continues to recognize opposition leader Juan Guaidó as interim president of that country, and
Fernández recognizes Nicolás Maduro
.
And in addition to recently leaving the Lima Group - in which although it does not participate, the United States has strong influence as a way of pressuring and isolating Chavismo - neither are Washington and Buenos Aires partners in the space of the Organization of American States.
The Kirchner administration tends to abstain from the resolutions of the OAS and its neighbors against the Chavista regime.
Until now, the State Department did not specify the content of the phone call.