Three times US President Joe Biden told Alberto Fernández that he had instructed the highest officials of his administration to
move forward on pending issues
with Argentina.
The first was in the Oval Office during the meeting that the two leaders held one on one for
20 minutes
.
There were only them and their translators, above their heads hung the portrait of Franklin Roosevelt that crowns the main wall of the most famous office in the world.
Fernández and Biden spoke about
the pope's health
.
The host, a fervent Catholic, exhibits, like his Argentine visitor, a photo of himself with Francisco.
In the same place and before the journalists, Fernández said he was
"an absolute ally" of Biden
.
It happened just over a year after he offered Vladimir Putin to turn Argentina into Russia's gateway to the continent.
things happened.
On two more occasions, Biden repeated to Fernández the order that he transmitted to his collaborators.
It happened in The Cabinet Room, where the US officials and their Argentine counterparts joined, who had waited in a room next to the Oval Office for the two heads of state to finish their private meeting.
The extended meeting lasted for another
60 minutes
. "My team already has the instruction to work side by side with you," insisted the Democratic leader in front of Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Senior National Security Adviser Jack Sullivan.
For Economy Minister Sergio Massa, Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero and Ambassador Jorge Argüello it was excellent news.
Biden was referring to the
agenda of critical minerals, food production and energy
that Argentina offers to the world, in addition to biodiesel, antidumping regulations and steel rates, the impact of the drought and possible modifications to the regulations of the organisms. of credit.
In the Government, they interpreted the imminent trip of Blinken's number 2, Wendy Sherman, as a sign in that sense, although none of these issues was highlighted in the statement released by the White House at the end of the meeting.
Also three times -according to the account of some witnesses to the meeting-
Biden made an analogy between the economic legacy inherited from his predecessors Donald Trump and Mauricio Macri.
“Biden said three times that we had in common having inherited a destroyed economy from the governments that preceded us,” Fernández said at the subsequent press conference that he gave at the Argentine Embassy.
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, and his Argentine counterpart, Alberto Fernández.
Photo: EFE/EPA/Yuri Gripas / POOL
The Argentine officials who reached Washington stressed that there were no direct questions to the President about the complex electoral scenario in Argentina.
"He asked us about Cuervo Larroque," they ironically laughed.
However, local politics slipped in several times, before and after the bilateral between Biden and Fernández.
More striking than the allusion to Javier Milei and Patricia Bullrich for arms deregulation was the interpretation made by the President and his entourage of Cristina Kirchner's Twitter post -11 minutes before Fernández arrived at the most important meeting of his term - Regarding the request made by Republican Senator Ted Cruz for the Vice President to be investigated.
“
There are political marginals everywhere
”, reflected the President.
For the Vice President, Cruz represents support for Comodoro Py to move forward with his political persecution to outlaw her.
For the President's circle, the Texan senator is comparable to PRO representative Fernando Iglesias.
"No one wants it," they said.
They are more than nuances.
When asked by a Spanish journalist, the President pointed out that
he is not thinking about re-election yet,
but that he is working for the triumph of Peronism.
Some of the officials who entered the White House stressed that Biden is aware
of the damage that Trump caused to the region
.
There were specific questions about the planting and harvest projections for 2024. The Argentines asked them to have exceptions against the US anti-inflation law that complicates Argentine lithium exports.
The paradox is that the country's main exporter is the North American company Livent, a detail that can help in the negotiations.
Finally, in the working meeting,
neither Fernández nor anyone from his team insisted
on the request for the United States to accompany the IMF board of directors in the elimination of surcharges that the organization charges Argentina, an idea with which the President hammers in every international forum.
At the highest level of the Government there are those who maintain -with less kind words- that the President's request is sterile.
The Fund has no schedule to return to discuss this possibility immediately.
Massa had prepared three short videos to explain the impact of the drought and the proposals for food security and energy potential in the country.
Argentine officials left the White House meeting hungry.
In the previous one they pointed out that the US seeks to relativize the influence of Beijing in the region.
"We are competitors, not enemies of China," they said.
Argentine officials pointed to China's speed in granting loans to Latin America compared to credit agencies.
The Secretary of the Treasury promised to collaborate with possible modifications to correct this error.
In a passage from the meeting, Biden pointed to Yellen.
"With the same speed with which he has just saved the banks, he is going to help Argentina to build a bridge to development," said the US president, according to the account of Argentine officials. Just 4 days ago, in the Ibero-American Summit in Santo Domingo where this tour began, the President asked the central countries to stop helping the banks.
Sent to Washington
look also
How can the US help Argentina in the IMF?
Containing government critics
look also
Alberto Fernández said that he asked Joe Biden to act "as a bridge" to reach 2024 "with greater peace of mind"