Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero He said that he spoke with the US president Joseph Biden at the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia, where they highlighted the importance of building “a positive agenda” for the Latin American region and stressed that “we must seek to integrate and not disintegrate.”
“I left him a greeting from the President (Alberto Fernández), I told him that he felt fine, that he would have wanted to be, but that he was in the hotel resting due to the health issue he had had, and I told him something that Alberto had told me. told us to talk about the midterm elections,” Cafiero said at a press conference, in the middle of a stopover in Madrid.
“I told him that fWhat a relief he had the result he did and that it was good news for many, for all of Latin America”, said the Foreign Minister, adding that “in this way we think that we can continue to build a positive agenda for the region and Argentina“.
Biden “was very satisfied, very happy with the election, he appreciated the look we had and that indeed a constructive approach work had to be done with Latin America, very important especially at this time where we must seek to integrate and not disintegrate,” the chancellor said.
“We speak in general terms of the region,” said Cafiero, “of the celacof the work that we were doing, of work with all countries and that this was the approach that had to be taken”.
Brazil and the relationship with the International Monetary Fund
Cafiero did not speak to Biden about the triumph of Luis Inácio Lula Da SIlva in Brazil, but he did discuss that topic with French President Emmanuel Macron, with whom “Alberto had already spoken.”
Regarding this, the Chancellor also spoke “with (the Spanish president) Pedro Sanchez and with (the chancellor of Germany) Olaf Schölzabout what was the impact of Lula in the region”, and “I told them it was positive”.
“Scholz asked me how Latin America was and I told him the changes of political sign of the region that they had been very positive and that they have a very similar perspective regarding the need to narrow the inequality gaps; and that although each country later has its complexities, we are united by a much more homogeneous agenda,” he summarized.
Regarding the meeting with the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva (IMF)considered that “it was very good, to be able to make progress on the agenda items we have“, and expressed that” the balance was to continue working on the program.
Cafiero indicated that “there was a good contribution from (the Minister of Economy, Sergio) Massa, by delivering a report on the price of war and the need for it to have some understanding, and the insistence on the subject of flight attendants. That They are for Argentina a billion dollars per year that we are already paying for them,” he explained.
The IMF is a collegiate body “and the decision to overcharge is a systemic decision” that has to do with “multiple effects,” including war, and affects “multiple countries because it is from Ukraine, Ecuador, to Egypt,” he explained. the official.
“There are different countries affected by the war, climate change, which are over-indebted, for different reasons we are all raising this,” he completed.
Cafiero spoke with Biden in the framework of a visit to the Mangrove Forest of Taman Hutan Raya Ngurah Rai, together with the other world leaders, replacing the head of state and which was carried out “to raise awareness about climate change”, in a place where “replanting” of this species is being carried out, “which captures four times more carbon dioxide, but due to climate change they had deteriorated,” explained the foreign minister.
“That action was delayed because there was an emergency meeting of the NATO members who were in the G20 for the missile that fell in Poland, where the two deaths were lamented and there was a lot of concern,” he added.
“We held a general meeting, where we discussed various issues related to this concern. Many countries already had the information that the event had been an externality resulting from the confrontation, but that it had not been a deliberate attack by any of them. In any case, Poland mobilized military resources for the area,” he added.
“They asked me about the health of Alberto Fernández. Pedro Sánchez, Macron and Olaf Scholz, with whom I was talking a lot because we were sitting next to it,” he said.
“First (Scholz) sent me greetings for Alberto, many of them were there and the comment about what had happened spread, but everyone remained calm because Alberto was already fine and even Pedro Sánchez and Macron, who had sent messages with him They also agreed when he said that he was better and that the situation was over,” he said.
The balance of the tour
As for the tour, summarized in three parts, it had Fernández and Macron at the first stop in France with “a close rapprochement with similar views on how to approach foreign policy, but with differences on specific issues,” said the minister.
Cafiero indicated that “the two do not follow the same road map, but they did notice a lot of harmony in seeking to understand the other’s gaze.”
“Not only because of the bilateral meeting, which was very good, but because Macron is someone who is incorporating the agenda of the global south into his vision of foreign policy, where one of the pillars”, according to his point of view”, “is Alberto Fernández “because “he is the one who brings the vision of Latin America and the Caribbean, and Macron incorporated it when he met Alberto Fernández, not before,” he said.
“This agenda of the global south seeks different approaches, not only the conflict in Ukraine and Russia, but also to focus on how conflicts between countries are resolved, and what are the implications that unilateral decisions sometimes have in other countries,” he completed.
The second part of the tour was at the G20, “with the participation of the meetings and the question of the President’s health.”
And the third was “that the agenda continued when the President instructed (Economy Minister Sergio) Massa and me to continue with the agendas that were planned”, and he commented that “some could continue, others not since they were presidential activities and nobody can replace him, such as the bilateral ones scheduled with Germany, Italy and Saudi Arabia that could not be carried out”.
On the final document of the G20, “Argentina raised different issues” that “began to work months ago.”
“There are issues related to issues on the agendas of our countries, the incorporation of a gender perspective, other issues such as flight attendants, continuing what happened in Rome last year,” he reviewed, and also highlighted the importance of “talking about financing with respect to to climate change, of the energy transition”.
“These are issues that Argentina has been promoting that are reflected in the final document,” he concluded.
