MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina is an “anchor” in the region according to the US

For the United States government and in spite of some “disagreements”, Argentina represents an “anchor” in the region together with Chile and Brazil, helping to prevent “the ship from going to hell”, said Thomas Shannon, US Undersecretary for Hemispheric Affairs.

"We share with Argentina interests and values, in spite of the differences that might exist", said Shannon interviewed by the Buenos Aires press.

Argentina is one of the "anchors" of the region together with Brazil and Chile, "to make sure the ship doesn't go to hell", said Shannon underlining that Argentina's "influence is very important".

Shannon downplayed the fact that Argentina will be supporting Venezuela as a non permanent member for the United Nations Security Council replacing Argentina at the end of the year.

"One must understand that the Security Council issue is not the heart of the matter in bilateral relations because this context is not the only relation between both countries, besides the UN vote is global" argued the US official.

"Obviously we have different perspectives about the vote", emphasized Shannon.

Anyhow, "we recognized that at the end of the day both countries need each other", said Shannon talking about a series of meeting held by President Nestor Kirchner and several cabinet ministers during their resent visit to New York for the UN General Assembly.

But undoubtedly "the economic issue will be important" for the future bilateral agenda, pointed out the US Undersecretary.

"Kirchner in New York met with investors and made it plain clear that Argentina is open to business, that was a great step forward and we want to ensure that US companies can effectively explore the possibilities of investing in Argentina".

Shannon added that the recently named US Ambassador in Argentina Tony Wayne, "when he arrives will be working with the government to ensure that there's a business climate that attracts investors to Argentina".