Alberto Fernández in Peru: a new round for regional leadership

Alberto Fernández seeks Peru to give a new step towards leadership in a troubled region. For President Pedro Castillo’s inauguration ceremony, he will coincide with other Latin American leaders and foreign ministers, with whom he will hold a busy schedule of bilateral meetings. The objective: a relaunch of CELAC, the community of Latin American and Caribbean nations, the body that traces a continental axis without going through Washington, founded ten years ago and paralyzed for six months. Argentina’s proposal is to hold a new leaders’ summit (the last one was in 2017) in September and obtain the necessary guarantees for assume the pro tempore presidency next year and from this platform, give new impetus to integration.

For that cHe has the support of his main partner in this hemisphere: the Mexican Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who a week ago openly called for progress in this direction: “The proposal is, neither more nor less, that build something like the European Union, but attached to our history, our reality and our identities. With this in mind, it is not to be ruled out the replacement of the OAS by a truly autonomous body, not a lackey of anyone, but a mediator at the request and acceptance of the parties in conflict, in matters of human rights and democracy“He did so in front of foreign ministers from across the region who met last week at CDMX, specifically called by CELAC at a preliminary summit meeting in September.

Mexico currently holds the rotating presidency of this space, and AMLO’s impetus has been agreed with the Argentine president, who aspires to replace him. The recent experience at the IDB and CAF, of cases where the country presented a candidacy and was defeated in elections where the turning point was ideological, makes Fernández seek this time to engage earlier. This morning in Lima He had a first meeting with the Ecuadorian Guillermo Lasso, and a bilateral meeting with the Colombian Iván Duque is also on the agenda.. Moreover, he took advantage of the trip to meet again the Uruguayan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Francisco Bustillo, whose friendship helps him to lubricate the extremely complicated bond with Luis Lacalle Pou. Delicate presidential diplomacy.

CELAC has the participation of 32 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, with the sole exception of Brazil, which withdrew at the request of Jair Bolsonaro in 2019, and is invited to join as soon as the ex-serviceman ends his government. This is an example of political integration, although the Argentine government is also working to strengthen trade ties with countries that need to import what Argentina produces. In addition, the agency will promote a cooperative approach in scientific research, sustainable development and even space exploration. The strengthening of the bloc will also contribute to political stability in the region and counterbalance an OAS delegitimized due to its participation in the coup in Bolivia.

For Fernández, it is also a new opportunity to build regional leadership, to which he openly aspires with the endorsement of European leaders and even the government of Joe Biden. They see Argentina as a relatively calm country in the midst of a burning map, from Chile to Cuba, from Brazil to Colombia, and in its president a reliable interlocutor, something which is not abundant in these latitudes. For that, it will have to obtain governments which until now have turned their backs on it. The absence of Bolsonaro, his archenemy, at the table, opens up a glimmer of opportunity for him to clarify in September what has already been denied him twice. With this mission he went to Lima. In a short time we will know the result of your efforts.