President Mauricio Macri and his US counterpart Barack Obama spoke of forming a “new relationship” at a joint press conference in the Casa Rosada today.
The two leaders exchanged mutual praise after a bilateral meeting this morning kicked off the first visit to Argentina by a US president in two decades.
“This is the start of an era of a mature, intelligent, constructive relationship, with the only goal of making the lives of our people better,” said Macri. “And together I’m sure we will achieve it.”
Presidents Barack Obama and Mauricio Macri meet in the Casa Rosada (Photo via Casa Rosada)
The president continued to discuss issues that the two countries will cooperate on, including security, trade, education, the environment, as well as improved exchanges of science and technology.
Macri said he thought the two leaders had a “shared vision” of the world in the 21st century, and hoped Argentina would become a leader in environmental issues.
Macri also thanked the US for agreeing to declassify military and intelligence records from the 1976-83 dictatorship era, adding that “it shows that if we enter into dialogue with other countries seriously, they will cooperate with our requests”.
Addressing the media, Obama said that his administration has been “impressed” with the reforms enacted by Macri in his first 100 days in office. He added that the US was ready “to stand with Argentina through this historic transition any way we can”.
Obama also confirmed that the US would declassify dictatorship-era documents, saying that he hoped it would help “rebuild the confidence that has been lost between our countries”.
The US leader was less comfortable after being asked by La Nación about whether his country should conduct a critique of its own role the last dictatorship.
“Like any country our history of foreign policy has moments of glory and some that are counter productive,” said Obama after a pause. “In the 70s, our focus on human rights was just as important as our fight against Communism… we have learned a lot from our self-criticism, and we have a lot of it.”
After a Town Hall event with young entrepreneurs this afternoon and a gala dinner at the Centro Cultural Kirchner tonight, President Obama will head to Bariloche, where he will spend the 40th anniversary of the 24th March 1976 military coup.
Accords
Earlier today, representatives of the two governments signed agreements to cooperate in areas of security -especially the fight against serious crime-, trade, and investment. The accords were signed by Foreign Affairs Minister Susana Malcorra, Interior Minister Rogelio Frigerio, Security Minister Patricia Bullrich, and US Ambassador to Argentina Noah Mamet.
Bullrich said the security agreements included the “exchange of information in the fight against organised crime, terrorism, and drug trafficking” as well as “common ‘task forces’ to collaborate in cases of people or criminal groups that could be operation in both countries.”
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