President Alberto Fernandez again trusted this Sunday that the front of all (FdT) will triumph in the next elections, did not rule out running again for the first magistracy and asserted: “The only thing I don’t want is for Mauricio Macri or anyone in his circle to win again.”
Also, Fernández highlighted once again the good relationship with the president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva; vindicated Mercosur and maintained that the president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro – questioned by the Argentine political opposition – is “more than invited” to the Celac summit, which will take place this Tuesday in the city of Buenos Aires.
“I am sure that the Frente de Todos will win. If you think I’m the candidate, it could be me or one of our other leaders. The only thing I don’t want is for Macri to win again. Macri or any of his circle, Macri and what he represents, which is the opposite of what we have done. They are all Macri from the other side“, he said in reference to Horacio Rodríguez Larreta and Patricia Bullrich, other presidential candidates of the PRO.
? “The arrival of @LulaOficial to the Government is a great joy, as a man who loves democracy and respects social rights. Lula believes in him @mercosur like me. We want to be strategic partners of Brazil”. The president @alferdez in the interview with @BandJornalismo. pic.twitter.com/ow0AFfTim9
– Alberto Fernández Press (@alferdezprensa) January 22, 2023
In an interview with the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper, Fernández said that “the disaster of the Macri government was very difficult to achieve. Starting right after the coronavirus pandemic, ruling two years after the pandemic, and then entering a war that changed the global economic equation.”
“Taking all this context into account, it is a government (that of the FdT) that has been working well. It is true that the pandemic affected us a lot, but also that we quickly sought vaccines and provided assistance to Argentines,” he stressed.
And he added that “today the economy has serious problems, but on the other hand there has been a high recovery of employment and, for the first time, Argentina will grow for three years in a row, in addition to having restructured our debt. Now, if you ask me if I’m satisfied, no, the poverty and inflation figures are very worrying.”
On the other hand, he said that he is “finishing” his mandate “at the head of Celac” and defined the regional blockade as “an important mechanism” in “these difficult times”, since it allows “bring the voice of Latin America to the Summit of the Americas and the G7 and participate in the discussion on the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.”
“The coming year is decisive because most of the consequences of the war will begin to be seen now. And when the FAO (United Nations food organization) says that 300 million people will die of hunger, we are very concerned, because We know that many of these people may be from Latin America,” he warned.
Mercosur and regional integration
He also warned that “we are living through a particularly turbulent moment for the region, in which we have to work to guarantee the institutionality of democracy. It is a good moment for Brazil to return to Celac.”
“It is too important a country to be absent from international forums, as happened with (Jair) Bolsonaro. It was very hard not to see the country with the voice it always had. Now, Celac begins a stage of regional integration in which Brazil will have a leading role“, he highlighted.
“I’m sure that the Frente de Todos will win. If they think I’m the candidate, it could be me or another of our leaders. The only thing I don’t want is for Macri to win again.”Alberto Fernandez
Fernández admitted that the last few years “have been bad for the mercosur. But not so much because of the performance” of the president of Uruguay Luis “Lacalle Pou”.
“I even think it’s great that Lula visits him soon after. I have a good relationship with Lacalle Pou. I can disagree with the ideas, but I personally never had a problemIt didn’t even come close to being similar to what my relationship with Bolsonaro was. With Lacalle Pou I was always able to talk. What I don’t agree with is his method, “she expanded.
? Lula (@LulaOficial) arrived in the country to participate in the Celac Summit on an official visit that will also include the signing of bilateral agreements and meetings with the President (@alferdez) and Cristina Kirchner (@CFKArgentina) pic.twitter.com/Ap2qziYLDJ
– Telam Agency (@AgenciaTelam) January 23, 2023
And then, referring to the bilateral alliances that Uruguay seeks with other powers, he said that Montevideo must seek objectives that can be achieved by being a partner of the region.
“This is the role of the smaller countries, while that of the larger ones is to address the asymmetries that exist, to remove obstacles for the smaller countries,” he said.
Coup attempt in Brazil and its regional scope
He also warned that recent coup attempts in Brazil “should draw the attention of the country and the continent” and stressed that “Lula solved the problem very well, summoning the other two powers and defending the institutions of Brazil.”
He clarified that “something like this would hardly happen in Argentina, because we have Armed Forces aligned with institutions. But we had a very serious episode, which was the attack on Vice President Cristina Kirchner. There is a certain sector of the Latin American right that thinks that violence is an appropriate way to combat democracy, to threaten society. We must be vigilant, not allow this to happen anywhere.”
In this sense, he maintained that “in Latin America we have a right that is very strong,” for example in Chile, Colombia and even Argentina, where, he said, “I won, but the right had 41% of the votes.”
“It is more difficult to build large majorities and you have to learn to manage it and defend the institutional framework. Political debate, rivalry, is one thing, threats to the institutional framework are another, as has been happening in Peru,” he warned.
The conflict in Eastern Europe
In relation to the war in Ukraine, he stated that “I did not stop talking to (Russian President Vladimir) putinbut we never support the invasion“He recalled that when Putin called him to congratulate him on winning the World Cup for Argentina, “I told him again that we had to sit down to resolve this issue. And I kept clarifying that Argentina does not support this invasion.”
The possible presence of Maduro in Celac
Regarding the controversy generated around the possible presence of Maduro in the deliberations of Celac, he stated: “Venezuela is part of Celac and Maduro is more than invited. As far as I know, he will.”
“Argentina’s position in relation to Venezuela is to promote, through the Contact Group, the dialogues that are taking place in Mexico. We believe that they can give good results. The idea is that Venezuelans decide among Venezuelans, not with us,” clarified.
Bilateral relationship with Brazil
Regarding economic relations between Argentina and Brazil, he reiterated that “we will discuss it during Lula’s visit; Brazil continues to be Argentina’s main trading partner, but much has been lost in recent years. One possibility that excites us is to work more in the production of electric cars, to use more lithium, which exists in large quantities in Argentina, to further boost our integrated car production.”
Asked if he and Vice President Cristina Kirchner are “fighting over Lula’s friendship” and if Lula is “worried” about these supposed frictions, Fernández laughingly replied: “I may have differences with the vice president, but if we have a coincidence it is that Lula is a very special person for us. There are two parallel links. But it is true that (Lula) is concerned that the Peronists remain united.”
