Markets fall in the Face of Alberto Fernandez's New Fight with Trump
Weeks before the presidential election in Argentina, Alberto Fernandez visited Mexico with the intention of meeting Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, but the Mexican leader refused to receive him as a candidate. Last week, the meeting finally took place after Fernandez chose Mexico for his first official trip as President-elect. The Peronist's mission seemed pretty obvious: to forge an alliance with the Latin American left and have it led by the president of Mexico. AMLO, however, has signaled that he is not interested in that position.
But Alberto seems willing to take the baton. Just this week, Argentina's president-elect not only condemned the coup d'état in Bolivia. He went one step further.
Evo Morales' situation seems to have once again complicated the relationship between Fernandez and Donald Trump. The truce that the Argentinean had achieved with a friendly phone call from the American president, imploded with the crisis in Bolivia and the U.S. compliments to the Bolivian military.
Bolivia and 'B Side' Militarism in Latin America
The Argentine President-elect harshly questioned Trump's position on the conflict, pointing out that the U.S. " went back decades, went back to the worst of times, endorsing military interventions against popular, democratically elected governments".
Fernandez also disclosed that he filed a complaint with the White House through a telephone conversation he had yesterday with State Department officials. "I let them know that their statement made me very unhappy," he said.
The markets didn't like this Bolivarian push from Fernandez. A few hours after his message, Argentina's country risk jumped 3.10% to over 2,500 basis points. A rise not seen since late August that could be directly linked to the unexpected response of the President-elect.
It is well known that Trump will have a direct influence on the position the IMF will take when renegotiating Argentina's out of control debt. Any gesture that strains the bilateral relationship will cause great concern.
"A word of advice to the president-elect of the Argentine Republic: fighting with the United States, especially while Trump is president, is a bad strategy," advised financial analyst and director of FinGuru, Sebastián Maril.
In his statement, Trump said: "The United States applauds the Bolivian people for demanding freedom and the Bolivian army for abiding by their oath to protect not just one person, but the Bolivian Constitution".
"I do not share what the U.S. Department of State has said. There is no victorious army here and it is not true that democracy has been guaranteed at all. In any case, it was prevented," replied Fernandez.
"I want to have the best relationship with the United States, and that means being able to speak frankly to each other. What is happening is not right. It has simply been a coup d'état. It can' t be disguised as anything else," said Fernandez.
But Alberto's regional leadership didn't stop there. It was announced today that the president-elect will travel to Montevideo on Thursday to meet with Daniel Martínez, candidate of the leftist Frente Amplio, and with President Tabaré Vázquez, among other activities that aim to bolster the campaign of the candidate who faces the runoff election on November 24.
The Frente Amplio has governed Uruguay for the past 15 years. In the first round, Martinez won with 39 percent of the votes, more than ten points over his rival Luis Lacalle Pou, but the outlook is difficult for the leftist candidate.
According to sources close to the President-elect, Fernández's visit was requested by former Uruguayan President Pepe Mujica. The Uruguayan reminded him of his support during his campaign.
Alberto's visit to Uruguay generated strong unease in the opposition, according to sources close to Lacalle Palou. They believed it was an "intolerable interference in the internal affairs" of the country.
The opposition compares Alberto Fernández's move with what happened two weeks ago when Jair Bolsonaro, having just heard of the result of the first round, was hopeful that the opposition could win. The Brazilian president was strongly condemned by the Uruguayan government. In the end, even Lacalle Palou urged him to stay out of the process.