Presidents of France and Argentina hope to find democratic solution in Venezuela

The president of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, thanked his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, for his support in the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in a telephone talk in which both called for a meeting to be found. democratic solution in Venezuela with respect for human rights, reported official sources from the South American country.

In a statement, the Argentine Presidency said that Fernández had communicated with Macron since the Olivos presidential office and the call, which lasted one hour, was about the relationship between the two countries and the global situation in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic. The situation in Venezuela and the elections in Bolivia

According to the sources, both leaders agreed on the need for a democratic solution with full respect for human rights to be found in Venezuela. In this sense, the Argentine praised the work carried out by Michelle Bachelet as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and asked Macron to support her.

Last week, at the United Nations Human Rights Council, Argentina supported the report made by the former Chilean president in which she denounces obstruction of political parties in the face of the legislative elections on December 6 and government repression in Venezuela.

Fernández said that Argentina and France are joined by the same interests human rights, freedoms, the environment and the humanitarian side in the face of the pandemic and asked the French president for the possibility of sending electoral observers for the next Bolivian elections this Sunday.

Macron congratulated the Argentine head of state for having reached an agreement with private creditors for which it was possible to restructure around 107,000 million dollars of sovereign bonds and in turn Fernández thanked him for his support in that process and the continuous support of France regarding the negotiations with the IMF and the search for its normalization.

We have a good bond with the IMF and a good level of conversation about how to face the future and we need an agreement that gives us time and allows us to grow again, said the Argentine, referring to the negotiation process with the organization to refinance the payment of the loan of 44,000 million dollars approved in 2018.

In this regard, the French president stressed that this new stage is very important to agree with the IMF and said that he is pleased that they are moving forward. We are willing to help.

With regard to the fight against the pandemic, the two presidents highlighted the importance of having a vaccine that is available to the world and Macron indicated that he wants it to be shared with non-Europeans as well, we must accelerate the search and we want it to be a global public good. he said.

The French president took the opportunity to thank the Argentine for sending him, through the Argentine ambassador in France, a manuscript prologue by the writer Jorge Luis Borges to his mother from 1970, since he is a great admirer of the Argentine writer.

Already last April, Fernández and Macron spoke by phone about the health and economic situation generated by the pandemic and previously, in February of this year, the Argentine visited the Frenchman at the Elysee Palace in Paris. At that bilateral meeting, Argentina obtained France's support in principle for the renegotiation of the foreign debt, in a European tour destined to survey large shareholders of the IMF.

On that occasion, Macron assured his country will be by his side and will mobilize with the IMF and other partners to help Argentina regain the path of growth, of a sustainable debt.