“We don’t want to have platonic relationships: we want to have carnal relations and abject.” The phrase was pronounced in 1991 by Guido Di Tella, then Chancellor of Carlos Saul Menem, before the highest authorities of the Inter-American Development Bank, in Washington, to refer to the policy that Argentina should have with the United States. A long time later, Di Tella recognized: “The phrase about carnal relations was stupid that I said, I accept it and I suffer from it.”
But, how are our country’s relations with the United States today? And with other countries in the region? During this government there were various controversies through Twitter that ended up becoming almost a state issue. Let’s review.
In these 25 months of Government, Alberto Fernandez tweeted about the United States 11 times, almost as many as Mauricio Macri (12 mentions to the US) during that same time as president. Fernández’s first approach was in November 2019, just days before becoming president-elect, when he wrote: “I received the call from @realDonaldTrump, who told me that he instructed the IMF to work together to solve our debt problem. I thanked him for his important gesture and conveyed my intention to maintain a mature and cordial relationship with the United States.”
A month later, he took over Felipe Solá as Foreign Minister of the Argentine Republic. And Solá’s first controversy occurred in March 2020, in the midst of the outbreak of the pandemic, when in a tweet he criticized different airlines, including Iberia: “Iberia, Air Europa, KLM, Air France, British, Norwegian, Lufthansa, Edelweiss, United Airlines and Aeroméxico, among other companies, sold the tickets and since the flights are now not profitable, they left the Argentines nailed. They will have to respond.” Rapid, the Spanish flag carrier, responded: “Hello. The Argentine government has banned foreign airlines from flying into your country. Therefore, it is not a decision that we have made, but your government. Greetings”. Chancellor’s first offside.
During that year, Felipe Solá also committed an unusual mistake: invented a conversation between Alberto Fernández and Joe Biden. In radio statements, he assured that there was a proposal from the Argentine president to his counterpart from the United States on the board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). But the reality is that this did not happen. In fact, Solá was never in that dialogue. This generated tension in the negotiations with the IMF and even the Alberto Fernández had to go out to clarifyA: “It was Solá’s mistake. We never talk about it.”. Another advanced position of the chancellor.
In 2021, before the conflict between Israel and Palestine, the Argentine Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Twitter that generated another controversy: “The Argentine Republic expresses its deep concern over the dramatic worsening of the situation in Israel and Palestine, the disproportionate use of force by Israeli security units in the face of protests over possible evictions of Palestinian families from their homes in the neighborhoods of Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan, as well as for the response through the launching of missiles and incendiary devices from the Gaza Strip”. Israel’s ambassador to Argentina, galit ronen, had to express his “concern” about the government statement.
These were just some of the unforced errors that Solá made in office, which were causing wear and tear in relations with other countries, and also in the corridors of the Casa Rosada: with phrases such as “the government of Venezuela is authoritarian,” or “Venezuela is a toxic issue.”
Solá’s time in the Foreign Ministry ended in a scandalous way: last September he traveled as Minister of Foreign Affairs to participate in the Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) but when he arrived in Mexico he was already just another tourist. And the one who informed him that he was removed was santiago cafiero, his replacement
In 2022, the Foreign Ministry of our country was involved in a new scandal. On January 11, he tweeted: “Argentina expresses its strongest condemnation of the presence of Mohsen Rezai at the inauguration ceremony of the President of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega. Their presence constitutes an affront to Argentine justice and to the victims of the brutal terrorist attack against the AMIA”.
It turns out that the Argentine ambassador in Nicaragua, Daniel Captainich, brother of the governor of Chaco, participated in the inauguration of Daniel Ortega in a new term, in which Mohsen Rezai, one of those accused of the terrorist attack on the AMIA, was also present. For this reason, the opposition asked to challenge Cafiero in Congress.
The Government thus begins its third year, in which it continues to seek to close an agreement to refinance the debt with the IMF. With that goal, santiago cafiero He traveled to Washington this week to “smooth things” with the Biden administration. But it is the bewilderment of an oscillating foreign policy that is making the world dizzy about Argentina’s position.
