Alberto sees an opportunity to mediate between Biden and Maduro

Alberto Fernández sees a golden opportunity to become the region's interlocutor with new U.S. President Joe Biden to achieve a negotiated exit to Venezuela's crisis.

Similar to Mauricio Macri's move during the Donald Trump administration, Alberto believes he can introduce his own agenda for Latin America based on the dialogue with the Democrat who took office on January 20.

On Thursday, the Casa Rosada interpreted as a positive sign, despite referring to Maduro as a dictator, the fact that Biden's administration called for a "peaceful democratic transition" for Venezuela.

On Thursday, the Casa Rosada interpreted as a positive sign, despite referring to Maduro as a dictator, the fact that Biden's administration called for "peaceful democratic transition for Venezuela.

The Argentine government believes Biden had no room to completely differentiate itself from the line that the US has been maintaining over Venezuela in recent years and that is why they are convinced that the subtleties in this conflict will make a difference. They believe they can suppose that radical changes will take place in Venezuela, coupled with the European Union that no longer recognizes Juan Guaidó, Trump's main ally in the Caribbean country, as president-in-charge. As LPO anticipated, the Venezuelan opposition believes that this stance will also be taken by Biden's government.

Argentina calls for a democratic exit from the crisis through the International Contact Group, but includes Maduro with a "red tag" for the human rights aspect, which sometimes causes problems within the government coalition.

"It should be noted that the parties in question are the government of Nicolás Maduro and the opposition," said Chancellor Felipe Solá on Wednesday after the sixth meeting of the group, promoted by the European Union. "If we want dialogue to be feasible, we cannot ignore that there is a constituted government that exercises the power of the state," Solá said.

It should be noted that the parties in question are the government of Nicolás Maduro and the opposition. If we want dialogue to be feasible, we cannot ignore that there is a constituted government that exercises the power of the state

Within this context, the Contact Group requested to resume dialogue with Maduro. Alberto believes he is the only president to have open dialogue with Hugo Chavez's successor and with Biden at the same time, so he supposes he can be key in the mediation. The Argentines also celebrated the fact that Chile should also participate.

Although Chile continues to participate in the Trump-driven Lima Group, supporters of Alberto attribute its entry to the Contact Group as a sign of rehabilitation of relations with Sebastián Piñera, embedded by Alberto's tour of the Trans-Andean country.

In the process of rebuilding the relationship with the Americans, on Thursday the Argentine government gave Biden a diplomatic nod. Foreign Relations Secretary Pablo Tettamanti and The Chief of Staff of Chancellery, Guillermo Justo Chaves, met with the business officer of the US embassy in Argentina, MaryKay Carlson, who is the American government's most important diplomat on Argentine territory until Biden appoints an ambassador, which they believe may take months.

At the meeting, Tettamanti and Chaves celebrated that the US has returned to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, from which Trump had withdrawn from. They also congratulated Carlson on the return to the World Health Organization, which Biden's predecessor had abandoned amid a pandemic that punished the US like no other country.

The Argentine government is careful to clarify that mediation with the US is far from a repeat of Macri's "carnal relations."

Therefore, they claim that Alberto's "Third Position" couldn't be clearer, as he seeks to partner with the US and maintain an institutional relationship with the IMF, while at the same time he retains good ties with China and has become a global ally of Russian Vladimir Putin after relying on the Sputnik V vaccine before any other country in the West.

The other bomb that hasn't gone off yet is Brazil's. After adjusting positions with Jair Bolsonaro, partly because of Daniel Scioli's optimism and sports diplomacy, Alberto will meet for the first time with the carioca representative in late March to celebrate Mercosur's 30th anniversary, while the agreement with Korea, which Argentina has been resisting to, still remains in the freezer.