Joe Biden’s early policies don’t match what the government expected

After being confirmed by the Senate, Antony blink assumed this Wednesday the function of Secretary of State for the administration of Joseph Biden.

When he appeared before his new task force, he was sincere that there was a difficult road ahead of them to see how they will get foreign policy back on track after four years of Donald Trump’s isolationist and nationalist doctrine. But Blinken – and to begin with Biden himself – have proof that so far it isThey will continue with many of the Republican’s fundamental policies.

These are subjects that go against the expectations of the Alberto Fernández government. Mainly because they were waiting a different approach to the regime of Nicolás Maduro. Another in Trump’s political and trade war with China, and a different approach to traditional trade protectionism that strongly affects the entry of Argentine products into the US market.

The strategy towards Latin America does not appear for the moment as a priority for Biden in these hours when other events are more critical in the eyes of Washington: economy and pandemic.

Arguably, so far, the only thread that connects the Fernández and Biden universes is the commitment to multilateralism and the fight against climate change. The rest are differences.

The case deserves a score from the same confirmation hearing Blinken had to face in the Senate last week – they confirmed it on Tuesday by 78 votes in favor and 22 against – and in which, as usual, he sought to seduce the Republican opposition. .

In this train, the regional aspect and this represents a change of perspective for what is expected here is the Venezuela factor. The Biden administration will continue to exert strong pressure on the regime of Nicolás Maduro; the sanctions against the Chavist leaders will be maintained; Juan Guaidó will continue to be recognized as “interim president”. For Biden and Blinken, Maduro is a “brutal dictator”.

New White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Washington wanted a “peaceful democratic transition” in Venezuela and “free and fair elections.” A difficult scenario for an Alberto F. who slips wanting to be a mediator with Caracas and the pressure that the Cuban exiles have begun to exert, demanding Biden’s tenacity against Havana, has also drawn attention.

Blinken, has several topics high on his agenda. One, if not the first, is the relationship with China on what she said Trump “was right to take a harsher approach to” This country.

“I totally disagree with how he did it in various areas, but the rule of thumb was correct. And I think it’s really useful for our foreign policy, ”he said during the Senate hearing. The Chinese response came from Xi Jinping himself.

“To create clans or start a new cold war, to reject, threaten or intimidate others … will only lead the world to division,” the Chinese president said in his speech at the Davos Forum.

The persistent rivalry between Chinese and Americans is a situation of deep discomfort for Argentina de Fernández who further strengthened ties with China during the pandemic. By the way, he is expecting a state visit to Xi in Beijing in May this year, while the Ambassador to the United States, Jorge Argüello, negotiates left and right a bilateral with Biden at the White House.

Meanwhile, the Chinese are waiting for decisions the government has yet to materialize – Argentina’s accession to the Silk Road – the construction of a nuclear power plant and infrastructure work that will continue to spur jealousy in the United States. For the weight of your country, Biden is the one who should support Argentina’s negotiations with the IMF.

In this train, the new decree says Buy american -which promotes the purchase of American products and gives priority to domestic companies and products for contracts with the federal government. It’s pretty much a surprising decision that Continued to Donald Trump’s “American First”.

Given this scenario, and with the slowdown in access to Argentine biodiesel in the US market – and the loss of US $ 1,200 million in profits per year there – Argentina will not necessarily find a Commerce Department. more accessible to Democrats than the one he had with Trump.

Nothing better than an old maxim from Washington to describe that Fernández’s relationship with Democratic power seems to depend more on what Argentina does than what the United States does. The president seems to know. Hence his strong anger at Foreign Minister Felipe Solá for a controversial tweet in which, congratulating Biden on his inauguration on January 20, he marked the court by saying that he hoped “also not to bet on the disunity of our nations as in the previous stage “