Chronicle of the day by Alberto Fernández in Lisbon | His…

“We have come to ratify our agreements with Europe so that they can accompany us in the development of Argentina”, He said President Alberto Fernandez, in dialogue with the group of journalists who accompany him on his tour of Europe, at the end of the first day in the city of Lisbon, in which this Sunday met the Portuguese President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. The main objectives of the tour which started yesterday, according to very important sources of the entourage, they are three: obtain presidential support for negotiations with the IMF; get more time for Paris Club payments and “avoid a negative shock to the economy before May 31” and strengthen the bilateral relations that already exist with these nations. It is possible that Friday, beyond what is planned on the agenda, there will be a meeting between the president and the head of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, since the two will coincide in Rome. The government, meanwhile, announced that upon returning from the trip, Fernández would have a virtual meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whom the president was unable to attend during this tour due to severe health restrictions that Germany crosses.

The president has a special affection for Portugal for ten years he has given courses in the city of Salamanca (Spain) and very often he drove to Porto, a Portuguese city located about 200 kilometers from the Spanish city. Fernández, at that time, took a route that almost completely bordered the Portuguese coast and slowed down on various beaches such as Nazare – known to surfers for its large waves – to rest. This is what he told Rebelo de Sousa when they were going down the stairs of the Belem Palace, where they met yesterday afternoon and also while they were walking through the gardens of the palace which serves as the residence. presidential, even if the current president not live there.

The Belém Palace is impressive: a huge pink building, built in 1559, which has very large gardens similar to those of the Palace of Versailles. It is located a few blocks from the banks of the Tagus River, in the heart of Lisbon. Cobbled streets and trams are characteristic of the city, as are colorful houses and huge bridges like the one called “April 25” – named after the Carnation Revolution that took place in 1974. Those who know the city before the pandemic say it is shocking to see it so empty due to the absence of tourists. This same thing surprised the Argentine president, according to people who were with him on a tour of the city after his flight landed. “I couldn’t believe seeing the Plaza del Comercio with so few people on a Sunday,” members of the delegation said.

While visiting the palace gardens, Fernández also told the President of Portugal that the place where, in his words, “he felt the smallest in the world” was 80 kilometers from Lisbon, in a place called Cabo De Roca, which is the westernmost point. from all over Europe. There is a big cliff there and you can see the grandeur and vastness of the Atlantic Ocean. De Sousa was grateful for having praised his country and Fernández invited him to visit Argentina, a proposal which was enthusiastically received by De Sousa.

The economic stakes, the highlight of the meeting

The first meeting was attended by the Argentinian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Felipe Solá, the Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Augusto Santos Silva, and the ambassadors: Argentinian in Portugal, Rodolfo Gil and Portuguese in Argentina, José Federico Viola. Then the two leaders entered the palace alone and after Fernández signed the book of honor, they entered the most important hall to hold the business meeting. Half an hour later, the Minister of the Economy, Martín Guzmán, and the Secretary General of the Presidency, Julio Vitobello, entered the room. “The central issue was economic and basically the negotiation with the Fund was discussed,” said important sources of the delegation.

One of the pillars was the support Portugal gave Argentina in its demand that the IMF not charge member countries that take out very high loans for interest surcharges. The President of Portugal highlighted this issue because at the last Ibero-American summit, the country supported the suspension of the surcharges promoted by Argentina and which is an issue that will be discussed at the IMF in October.

Argentina’s position on this issue is based on its view that exceptional accesses are not, precisely, “exceptional” because many countries request loans in excess of quotas of a value established as exceptional. In other words, they consider that the countries which find themselves in the most unfavorable macroeconomic situations are sanctioned by surcharges and they consider that this has the opposite effect of promoting global economic stability, let alone in a context of a pandemic. . If that were done, Argentina this year, for example, would have saved around $ 952 million.

The pandemic was another topic of the meeting of presidents. Portugal had a difficult time in January and February, but thanks to the reduction in traffic today, it finds itself in a more relieved situation.

The third axis of the conversation revolved around the successful – and unconventional – program that Portugal adopted with the IMF. “Argentina is looking for a program that also has economic recovery as a central premise. We are looking to have an order of accounts, but that from the point of view of public expenditure there is an expansive role,” said they expressed government and assured that “Portugal supports this idea”.

Tomorrow, before the President’s meeting with the Portuguese Prime Minister of the Socialist Party, António Costa, Guzmán will meet his counterpart, the Portuguese Minister of Finance, João Leão.