Argentine President Alberto Fernandez, who is on a three-day visit to Mexico, joined President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) this morning in his regular daily press conference, at the Mexican President’s invitation. In his remarks, Fernandez told the gathered reporters and officials that as soon as he was elected in October of 2019, the first thing he decided to do was to travel to “beautiful Mexico,” even before taking office “to deepen the connection, so that once and for all Argentina and Mexico, with so much in common, can look to the future much more united that we had been.”
Effusively praising Lopez Obrador, Fernandez stated that “Argentina and México have a future. They have a future in Latin America, and Latin America has a future, one based on the unity of our efforts...but that Mexico and Argentina [must] be united is a duty we have, that we face a common future and this will help Latin America.” Indicating the warmth of the two leaders’ friendship, Fernandez told those present that Mexico has “the President that Mexicans deserve, with whose moral and ethical values I fully identify.; for the first time in years, Mexico has a President with the moral and ethical values Mexicans deserve.” It’s “our duty,” he said, “to deepen our ties.”
Fernandez emphasized that the unity of which he spoke “must extend from the northernmost part of Latin America, Mexico, to the southernmost part, Argentina. We have to be able to draw an axis line that unites the whole continent...that’s the duty we have with Andres Manuel.” One example of that unity, Fernandez said, is the two nations’ collaboration on producing the AstraZeneca vaccine, “the vaccine that Latin Americans need to put an end to this horrifying pandemic,” adding that he backs Mexico’s call for the “universalization” of vaccines” and shares its concerns about the hoarding of vaccines (see separate slug).
In this context, Fernandez recalled how he and AMLO had collaborated in November of 2019—he as Argentina’s president-elect—to save the life of Bolivian President Evo Morales, who had been overthrown in a coup, “with the acquiescence of the Organization of American States (OAS).” He pointed to Mexico’s historic role as a nation that has always granted asylum and refuge to those who were persecuted by their own governments, as was the case in the 1970s, when many Argentines fled to Mexico to escape the brutal military dictatorship.
Spanish-language transcript, https://www.gob.mx/presidencia/articulos/version-estenografica-conferencia-de-prensa-del-presidente-andres-manuel-lopez-obrador-del-23-de-febrero-de-2021?idiom=es
