Obama praises Argentina’s Macri for swift pace of economic reforms
US President Barack Obama on a two-day visit to Argentina, said President Mauricio Macri was setting an example to neighbours in the region
BUENOS
AIRES: President Barack Obama on Wednesday praised Argentina’s new centerright leader, Mauricio Macri, for the swift pace of reforms to create a stronger economy and said Washington was ready to work more closely with Argentina after years of tension.
Obama, on a two-day visit to Argentina that marks a rapprochement in relations, said the president was setting an example to neighbours in the region.
“I’m impressed because he has moved rapidly on so many of the reforms that he promised, to create more sustainable and inclusive economic growth, to reconnect Argentina with the global economy and the world community,” Obama told a joint news conference after the two leaders held talks.
In his first 100 days in office, Macri has distanced himself from South America’s leftist bloc, old allies of former president Cristina Fernandez, and sought a thaw in relations with Western capitals as he seeks new investment in Latin America’s No. 3 economy.
Macri offers Obama a new ally in South America, a region where a strong leftist bloc turned its back on Washington over the past decade but is now shifting toward the political centre ground as governments grapple with graft scandals and an economic slowdown.
Obama’s trip to Argentina to forge a new friendship follows a historic visit to Cold War foe Cuba that aimed to boost Obama’s credibility across Latin America. For years, much of the region took a dim view of Washington’s longstanding policy of trying to force change in Communist-ruled Cuba by isolating it, a strategy that Obama has cast aside.
Describing Argentina as one of the most powerful countries in the Western hemisphere, Obama said it was a critical partner as the United States seeks to “promote prosperity and peace and opportunity in the region as a whole”.
Earlier thousands of people cheered Obama’s motorcade as it made its way along Buenos Aires’ tree-lined boulevards, handing the US leader a friendlier reception than his predecessor George W. Bush, whose presence at a Summit of the Americas in 2005 was met with protests and snubbed by then president Nestor Kirchner.
Obama and Macri also agreed to take joint steps to fight climate change including working to cut carbon emissions from air flights and integrating solar and wind power into electricity grids.
The two countries committed to signing last year’s Paris global climate agreement as soon as feasible and Argentina plans to enhance its contribution under the plan, a fact sheet on the agreement said.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has invited world leaders to sign the Paris agreement in New York on April 22. In addition, “the two governments will cooperate on scaling up renewables, including through US assistance on market reform, system optimisation, and integrating renewable energy in the power grid,” said the fact sheet, issued by the White House. The countries, both of which are big oil and natural gas producers, also agreed to “promote safe and responsible development of unconventional oil and gas resources.” The United States will coordinate visits by Argentine officials to US shale gas fields and other unconventional petroleum drilling sites, the agreement said.
In the bilateral announcement, Argentina said it would strengthen the national climate change plan it submitted as part of the UN climate agreement.
Obama has said the United States remains committed to carrying out its own national climate strategy, despite a Supreme Court ruling last month that froze a key regulation to curb power plant emissions. Obama said despite the legal setback he is “very confident” that the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan is on “strong legal footing.”
Macri said Obama’s visit marked the start of new “mature” relations in which the countries would cooperate on issues ranging from trade to fighting international drug trafficking. Obama said Argentina could be an effective partner in the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime and said both countries would work together in response to the Zika virus that has spread across parts of South America at lightning speed.