MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine President welcomes Chilean colleague with whom he shares many views

“I believe we are going to have very good relations with Alberto,” Boric said

Argentine President Alberto Fernández Monday welcomed his Chilean counterpart Gabriel Boric Font at the Casa Rosada in Buenos Aires. It was the visiting head of state's first trip abroad since taking office on March 11.

Fernández and Boric reportedly share many views on a large assortment of issues. For his inauguration, Fernández gave Boric a vinyl record of his private collection and the Chilean leader has posted on social media videos of himself playing it.

And then there is also a mutual understanding regarding Argentina's claim over the Falkland Islands: Back in 2013 when a younger Boric would not even dream of running for President, he stood up to then-British Ambassador to Santiago Jon Benjamin on Twitter and said “Malvinas, Viejo, Malvinas Argentinas,” (Malvinas, man; Argentine Malvinas) replied the then 27-year old student leader who made his stance clear regarding sovereignty over the archipelago. Benjamin had referred to the South Atlantic islands as “Falklands” when posting on Twitter in Spanish.

Once again Monday when arriving at Casa Rosada, Boric spoke of a “complicity” with the Frente de Todos (FdT) administration. “We believe that we have to work together a lot, encourage investment in economic matters, but also in cultural exchange, political support, and recover the voice of Latin America in world forums,” he went on. “I believe we are going to have very good relations with Alberto and this will be ratified in the agreements we sign.”

Following the one-on-one private meeting between the two heads of state, other activities ensued with the presence of members of both countries' ministerial cabinets.

On behalf of Argentina,

The Argentine team included Ministers Santiago Cafiero (Foreign Affairs), Jorge Taiana (Defense); Martín Guzmán (Economy); Tristán Bauer (Culture), and Elizabeth Gómez Alcorta (Women, Genders and Diversity) in addition to Secretaries Gustavo Béliz (IStrategic Affairs); Horacio Pietragalla Corti (Human Rights) and Darío Martínez (Energy) as well as Buenos Aires' Ambassador to Santiago, Rafael Bielsa.

Fernández and Boric signed a series of agreements at the Casa Rosada's Bicentennial Museum, while Gómez Alcorta and her Chilean counterpart set up an accord regarding cooperation in Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment.

(Read also: https://en.mercopress.com/2022/04/04/chilean-president-lands-in-buenos-aires )

In the afternoon, Boric was to visit the National Congress, where he was to be welcomed by Lower House Speaker Sergio Massa, and the Provisional Speaker of the Senate, Claudia Ledesma Abdala.

Boric was then to meet with Supreme Court Justices Carlos Rosenkrantz, Juan Carlos Maqueda, and Ricardo Lorenzetti, together with Chilean Supreme Court Chief Justice Juan Fuentes.

In the evening, Fernández and Boric will attend a cultural show at the Kirchner Cultural Center, followed by a gala dinner.

Boric's agenda for Tuesday includes the opening of the business forum of the Argentina-Chile Trade Committee at the Foreign Ministry, which will be attended by about 50 businessmen from both countries.

The Chilean President is also scheduled to stop by the Human Rights Museum (Espacio para la Memoria y para la Promoción y Defensa de Los Derechos Humanos, which functions on the premises of the former Navy's School of Mechanics (ESMA), which was turned into a clandestine detention center during the military dictatorship (1976-1983). On that site, he will meet Buscarita Roa, a member of Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, of Chilean origin.

The Presidential tour will end with a meeting with Chilean residents in Argentina at the embassy in Buenos Aires.