MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Felipe Solá found out he was being sacked as Argentine FM while enroute to Celac Summit

Solá landed in Mexico still as Foreign Minister

Outgoing Argentine Foreign Minister Felipe Solá found out during a stopover in El Salvador that his services would no longer be required, so he decided to cut short his trip which should have ended with his presence at the Celac Summit in Mexico City.

Angered by President Alberto Fernández's decision, Solá immediately decided to turn in his resignation before the multilateral event, which the head of state had also failed to attend due to internal turmoil.

Celac has no headquarters and it does not include the largest three countries in the continent: the United States, Canada and Brazil.

And when Argentina looked headed for its pro-tempore presidency to succeed Mexico's Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Fernández pulled a stunt which, in addition to negative reviews from Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, halted what seemed to be a mere formality.

Under those circumstances, Mexico, which has exceptionally been in charge of Celac for two years instead of the usual one-year term, will remain in place, in the absence of the Argentine authorities, the entire group minus Nicaragua were endorsing.

Solá was in El Salvador - one of the many stops that the small Air Force plane had to make - when he received a call from Santiago Cafiero. It was the outgoing Chief of Staff who informed Solá both of his dismissal as well as of the fact that he would himself become his successor.

Solá landed in Mexico still as Foreign Minister and was received at the airport by his then local colleague Marcelo Ebrard, but already aware that he was going to be replaced, he simply turned in his resignation and did not attend the Celac Summit.

Argentina was thus represented by Juan Valle Raleigh, Secretary of the Foreign Ministry for Latin America, who made a long presentation on the classic positions of Argentina and Peronism.

According to Foreign Ministry sources, Sola had had numerous crises and several personal fights with Alberto Fernández, but his replacement was expected to come only after the November 14 mid-term elections.

Meanwhile, the Buenos Aires newspaper Clarín has reported over the weekend that the appointment of outgoing Cabinet Chief Santiago Cafiero as Foreign Minister was some sort of compromise decision and that he too will be replaced later November either by current Argentine Ambassador to Washington DC, Jorge Argüello or by former Vice President Daniel Scioli, who is the current Ambassador to Brazil.

Cafiero and the new Argentine ministers are expected to take their oaths of office Monday. After that, further changes are expected to take place at the Palacio San Martín (Foreign Ministry building in Buenos Aires).