Sergio Rubin
05/08/2021 2:52 PM
Clarín.com
Politics
Updated 05/08/2021 2:52 PM
The first signs that Alberto Fernández was going to ask the Pope for an audience - the second since he became president - caused
ostensible discomfort in the Vatican
.
It is that
the wound that
the approval of the legalization of abortion
in the country of the pontiff
caused in the relationship between Francisco and the Church with the president
is still
raw
.
And, above all,
the fact that Fernández has promoted it
with so much determination in the midst of the health crisis and the consequent worsening of the economic and social situation.
It was also upset that the President - in the opinion of the Church - has
pressured several senators to vote affirmatively on the bill
.
But the deterioration of the bond with the Pope was finally deepened when the Casa Rosada - on the eve of the crucial vote in the Senate -
made it known that supposedly the Pope wanted the
legal
initiative to be voted on
as soon as possible and thus it will be closed once and for all the controversy.
"
Francis - they say in Rome - felt manipulated with a fallacy
."
In fact,
his dialogue with the president was cut off.
For this reason, upon receiving the first indications that Alberto Fernández wanted to see the Pope again, the Vatican secretariat of State conveyed to the government - with its refined ways - the
advisability of postponing the meeting.
Rome could only opt for persuasion
because the uses and styles of its diplomacy say that a head of state, such as the Pope, should not deny an audience to a president of the Nation, much less of a country with a majority Catholic population ( and that he is from his homeland).
That the meeting is in the framework of a tour of the president by several countries to obtain support for his strategy of renegotiating the debt with the IMF and the Paris Club
did not add a good reason
to request the papal audience, they say in Rome.
Francis has already made clear - in line with the traditional position of the Church - his
support for generous consideration of the debts of developing countries
.
In addition, he recently received the Minister of Economy, Martín Guzmán, who was for that purpose.
In any case, it seems clearer in the Vatican that what Alberto Fernández is looking for is a
political support for
the pontiff in a
moment of weakness
as a result of the harassment he suffers from the vice president, his relatives and the Cámpora.
And in a context of a
sharp drop in popularity
since he decided to embrace the confrontational speech of Cristina Kirchner.
They have already noted that the government wants to
publicize the meeting widely
: they invited a dozen journalists to the trip.
The government feeds expectations. For example, he clarifies that the audience will not be in Santa Marta as it was initially thought (it is that that day - this Thursday - is a holiday in the Vatican), but in the majestic setting of the Apostolic Palace. And that at the end,
Francisco will greet the presidential entourage
. But that can be read in another way: that the visit will be official and, therefore, must adhere to a strict protocol that, among other things,
limits the meeting time from 20 minutes to measure
.
In any case, the Pope's support for a generous consideration of the payment of the foreign debt is clear.
"The debt is not paid by Alberto Fernández, or Cristina Kirchner, or Mauricio Macri," they say in the Church to clarify that
Francisco's attitude does not lead to partisan favoritism.
After all, the president had asked him for help at the beginning of his mandate and that is why it was
surprising in the Holy See that he simultaneously promoted the legalization of abortion.
What cannot be denied - according to all observers - is that
Guzmán has the "blessing" of Francisco
. He met him months before the last elections on a visit he made accompanying the Nobel Prize in Economics Joseph Stiglitz -his mentor- who in turn came from the hand of the Scholas Occurentes pontifical foundation in order to develop content for the universities of
an economy with a human face.
It is not a minor fact in the context of the harassment that Guzmán also suffers within the ruling coalition.
But in the case of the President, it will be necessary to see if he takes all the revenue from his time at the Vatican.
The risk he runs is that -with his subtle ways-
the Holy See will make it clear
after the meeting
that the bond of the Pope with him is not going through the best moment.
NE
Look also
Alberto Fernández begins a five-day tour in search of political oxygen and support for negotiations with the IMF
Debt negotiation: Martín Guzmán will meet Kristalina Georgieva in Rome
