Biden government’s nod to Alberto Fernández for IMF debt

The government of United States officially committed to working with Argentina to find a solution to the debt problem with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and underlined the key role that Alberto Fernández can have in the White House’s relations with Latin America. After the visit to Buenos Aires by high-level emissaries, Joe Biden’s government has informed that it will collaborate in negotiations with the international organization credit to “send a message to all emerging countries that are in financial difficulty and should ask the IMF for help.” During a press conference, the director for the western hemisphere, Juan González, also stressed that Fernández “can speak with the governments of the left and the right”. and that is why “it can play an important role in the promotion of democratic values” in the region.

Once again, foreign policy gives the Argentine president the satisfactions that the domestic arena still denies him. The message from the North American government, issued in a formal framework, gives consistency to the information circulating since Friday and begins to put the finishing touches to the meticulous work that Fernández and his team have been weaving since December 2019 with the priority objective to solve the problem of the unpayable debt left by Mauricio Macri. Negotiations with private creditors were first resolved. Then a financial bridge was achieved with the Paris Club and the support of the leaders of the European Union for Argentina’s proposals, which go beyond their specific case and propose fundamental reforms of the financial system. Now officially Joe Biden also supports this position. The path to an agreement is clear.

“The world is going through a very special situation and in that context, the country that has a larger loan with the IMF, the way the organization comes to a resolution with Argentina on this issue will send a message to the region, or in a reality not only to the region but to all emerging countries which have financial difficulties and must look to the IMF for help, ”González said at a press conference to report on the development of the South American tour. “This is why the United States has an interest in international institutions taking up the challenge and being ready to work with Argentina on this issue,” he added. We want to make sure that we do not develop a solution specific to Argentina, but one that sets a precedent for other countries facing similar challenges ”.

The White House official also spoke of “Lots of coincidences” with the Argentine government on the need to “invest in workers and their families” to prevent inequalities from widening after the crisis and highlighted the agreement between the two countries to discuss an overall minimum tax rate on companies, another of the debates promoted from Argentina by the Minister of the Economy, Martín Guzmán, in his multiple contacts with other countries to resolve the very complicated financial problem that this government has inherited. The signals left in Buenos Aires by Jake Sullivan, Biden’s emissary, confirm the direction taken by the Frente de Todos since the election campaign, denouncing the political nature of the loan to Macri and hence the need for a political solution to an entanglement that could not be triggered otherwise.

Moreover, from Washington it has been confirmed that in the eyes of the North American government, as part of a convulsed South America, as Bolsonaro aspires to Donald Trump and the historic partners of Washington, Colombia and the Chile, they are going through complex political difficulties. and social scenarios, Argentina emerges as an island of stability in the eye of the storm and Fernández is a reasonable interlocutor who can help prevent conflicts that could have consequences north of the Rio Grande from escaping. An opportunity that the Argentine president saw at the start of his mandate, built since then and which is now beginning to bear fruit. “We believe Argentina is a country that can speak with governments on the right and on the left and can play an important role in promoting the defense of democratic values,” said González of the White House.

In this sense, he left the door open to the Argentine position to help find new approaches to some of the conflicts that arise in the region. “I think we had a very constructive conversation with the Argentines, who expressed their willingness to find common ground and their interest in being of service. I mean: I think they made it clear that they won’t always agree with us on how to do things, how to approach issues in cases like Nicaragua, Venezuela or Cuba, but that “the two parties will continue to have a very honest report and a fluid dialogue on these issues”, admitted the foreign policy official of the Biden government for this region. “The deployment of 5G technology, the OECD, NATO and climate change” were also on the agenda, he said.