The “Cristinista” line is consolidated in strategic embassies

With the decision of the Senate to give an opinion in committee to the files of three ambassadors The Argentines proposed by the executive power: Luis Alfredo Ilarregui in Havana (Cuba), Sergio Ariel Basterio in La Paz (Bolivia) and Sabino Vaca Narvaja in Beijing (China), the “Christianity” line is consolidated in the key dependencies of foreign policy. This group also joins Eduardo “Chango” Zuaín, appointed to the Moscow office.

The three candidates presented yesterday before the Agreements Committee of the Upper House, chaired by Anabel Fernández Sagasti, Senator of Mendoza (Front of All). He also participated as a guest in the videoconference Jorge Taiana, Chairman of the Senate External Relations Committee.

“I’ll be honest, I’m not an ambassador yet, I haven’t traveled to Cuba yet. All I’m conveying is the build-up of the last 20 days from the proposal,” Ilarregui said , which was defined as “political activist”. During his presentation, he stressed that he will seek to improve relations with the country on the commercial and cultural levels.

Ilarregui was the first Peronist mayor of Ayacucho. He won the municipal elections in September 1987. At the same time, in Río Gallegos, Nestor kirchner reached the same position. They did not meet until 98 when Kirchner was already governor of Santa Cruz. Ilarregui, who was also a senator and national deputy, is a man who has always been linked to Kirchnerism. Among his thanks, in addition to the President and the Chancellor Felipe Solá, mentioned the vice president Cristina Kirchner.

In Basteiro’s case, he will reoffend. He was Argentine Ambassador to Bolivia from July 2012 to December 2015, under the government of Cristina Kirchner, and he is a man deeply identified with Kirchnerism.

Vaca Narvaja is also linked to the current vice-president. Not only because of his personal connection, given that his brother Camilo is the father of his granddaughter, but also because he was part of his government as Director General of International Relations in the Senate. With the change of presidency, he was adviser to the Front for Victory bloc until Cristina Kirchner returned to give him the post of director before his trip to the Asian country.

These three embassies join the recent change in that of Russia, where Zuaín, a man who is also part of the Christian wing, was appointed ambassador by decree on February 1. He is a lawyer with diplomatic experience, he was vice-chancellor during Cristina Kirchner’s second term while the late Hector Timerman he was responsible for the chancellery. At the end of 2017, his name was added to the list of defendants in the memorandum with Iran.

Its designation is essential since the Russian vaccine Sputnik V is currently the only one available in Argentina. The brand new ambassador said he would make arrangements to manufacture it in Argentina.

Brazil and the United States are the other strategic embassies for commercial reasons. Both are occupied by men close to President Alberto Fernández. In the case of the first, for Jorge Argüello, whose name had even circulated as possible Minister of Foreign Affairs during the campaign. In the case of Brazil, Argentina’s main trading partner, Daniel Scioli who occupies the position. Other embassies in the region – such as Uruguay, led by Alberto Iribarne, and Rafael Bielsa, in Chile – also belong to the Albertist wing.

The appointment of the ambassadors seems to reflect the same dynamic of the government, the supposed double command between Cristina and Alberto Fernández. While the president has opted for the embassies of Mercosur and the United States, the vice-president has chosen places that she considers strategic for Argentina’s foreign policy.

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