For the photo in the oval room of the White House: Alberto Fernández and Joe Biden. There was talk of a cordial meeting / AFP
“I asked him that the United States please continue accompanying us in international credit organizations to be able to build that bridge that will allow us to spend this year with more peace of mind. And the president (Joe Biden) told me to count on him and his government, ”President Alberto Frenández told the press in Washington after having met with the Democratic president at the White House.
“Argentina is suffering from the worst drought since 1929 on record. This has greatly complicated our economy and we are raising this new reality to the credit agencies,” argued the head of state’s claim. “He told me that he was convinced that the international credit organizations should give a specific policy for middle-income countries, that we are always left behind in the distribution they make,” he added.
Fernández pointed out that he thanked Biden both in public and in private that Washington “always” accompanied them in the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) “when the country was in very bad conditions.”
The meeting took place at an important moment in the debt restructuring agreement with the IMF, an organization in which the US is the largest shareholder.
REVISION
The Argentine president wants Biden’s support for the IMF board to approve the fourth revision of the Extended Facilities Program that Argentina signed a year ago and that will entitle him to a disbursement of 5.3 billion dollars, within the 44 billion credit that Argentina has with the financial institution.
It was, according to Fernández, “a good afternoon of work” in which they were able to address “specific” issues both from both countries and from the international situation.
“President Biden stressed on more than one occasion that there is something that unites us, which is having received from the governments that preceded us a destroyed economy and the need to face the difficulties that this economy in poor condition generates in a world that also has many economic problems,” he said.
They talked about the possibility that Argentina offers in terms of critical minerals, energy or lithium, and the US president, according to his account, pointed out that both countries need to “deepen” that cooperation and start working together.
“I am convinced that the doors have been opened for strategic work together with the United States,” added Fernández, who said he was “satisfied” and “happy” with this exchange, his first bilateral since both were presidents.
Biden has praised Fernández for her work on climate change, and has expressed support for continued collaboration on the energy and strategic mineral sectors, as well as cutting-edge technologies.
This meeting coincided in a year in which the two countries celebrate the 200th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and had two parts: first the two leaders alone and then with their teams, in what is known as “extended bilateral.”
Their conversation also allowed us to address the health of Pope Francis due to his hospitalization
Their conversation also made it possible to address the health of Pope Francis, admitted to the hospital for a respiratory infection, about whom Fernández said that both were “very concerned”, and in his meeting with the press he stressed that he is not thinking about the possibility of presenting himself now. to re-election, but in the victory of his space.
On his visit to Washington, the Argentine president is accompanied by a delegation of ministers and officials, including the head of the Foreign Ministry, Santiago Cafiero, the Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, and the Minister of Security, Aníbal Fernandez.
The president arrived in a black van around 2:40 p.m. local time, 3:40 p.m. from Argentina. The one-on-one encounter would have lasted about 35 minutes.
