MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine president turns to diplomacy

Fernández will be a key player in Venezuelan peace talks while strengthening Celac and moving toward joining BRICS. Photo: Argentine Presidency

Argentine President Alberto Fernández has withdrawn himself from domestic confrontations within the ruling Frente de Todos (FdT) by focusing on the international agenda that launches him onto the world's center stage in the coming days.

Fernández's Argentina is to participate as an observer country in Venezuela's round of dialogue in Paris, at the initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron. President Fernández will then fly to the G20 summit in Indonesia.

Regarding Venezuelan negotiations, there will be a preliminary meeting Friday in Paris and, if everything goes as planned, then the dialogue will resume in Mexico after being suspended for about a year.

President Fernández also spoke with his Venezuelan colleague Nicolás Maduro, who welcomed the news of his mediation in the negotiations. Maduro and Macron talked briefly Monday in Egypt during the Climate Change Conference.

The fifth edition of the Peace Forum is to start Thursday in Paris, with the war in Ukraine and its consequences in terms of food and energy prices as the main -but not the only- topic.

Macron has already invited over Colombian President Gustavo Petro, the first ever leftwing leader of that country, in addition to Fernández, who is also president pro tempore of the Celac.

France is particularly interested in Venezuelan oil after shortages stemming from the war in Ukraine. Hence, United States sanctions on PDVSA need to be lifted.

Argentina's Ambassador to Caracas is also promoting Venezuela's return to Mercosur, it was reported. After Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva takes office again as President of Brazil, the chances are high.

While in Bali, Fernández is to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping to probably advance negotiations toward joining BRICS.

Fernández also called for the “institutionalization” of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac), so that there are “rules that begin to govern the entire region.”

“Having Mexico, Brazil and Argentina aligned in a common destiny makes it much easier to achieve” common goals, he argued.