The president of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, warned before the United Nations General Assembly of the risk of "extremist and violent speeches" for world democracy.
In his first appearance before world leaders, Fernández thanked the solidarity received in the face of the attempted assassination of the vice president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, on September 1.
The attack, according to the president, was aimed at altering the democratic construction of the country in the last four decades.
“We Argentines built the Never Again agreement against State terrorism and political violence,” said Fernández, before expressing his confidence that this agreement is still valid despite the attack that shocked the country: “I am sure that the fascist violence that disguised as republicanism will not be able to change that broad consensus to which the vast majority of Argentine society adheres”.
Even so, the Argentine president asked the General Assembly to listen to the alarm signals in the face of the rise of speeches that seek to "weaken and erode democracies" by promoting polarization and "anti-political sentiment."
Fernández took to the international arena what the Peronist government has been repeating at home since Fernando Sabag Montiel fired a gun at Kirchner's head: the link between the attack and the hateful messages poured out by opposition groups and the media against the vice president, the figure most influential in Argentina.
As is customary in the speeches of Argentine leaders at the UN, Fernández once again called for the sovereignty of the Malvinas Islands and insisted on the request that Iran allow the accused of the worst attack in the history of Argentina, the one perpetrated against the headquarters of the Jewish mutual society AMIA in Buenos Aires in 1994. 85 people were killed in the attack and dozens were injured.
In addition, he asked to lift the blockades against Cuba and Venezuela.
During his speech, Fernández also made reference to the renegotiation agreement of the 44,000 million debt contracted with the IMF in 2018. "My government did not generate the debt but it faces it seriously," he stated before world leaders.
A day earlier, the Argentine president met in New York with the president of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, to assess compliance with the agreement.
Georgieva was satisfied with the progress made by Argentina, although she warned that the main pending issue in the South American country is inflation, which is close to 80% year-on-year.
"What we discuss with each minister is how to fight inflation, there have been no fundamental changes," Georgieva said at a press conference.
Hours before the meeting, the IMF announced the approval of the second disbursement for Argentina since the signing of the agreement, of almost 4,000 million dollars.
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