On 22-24 February 2021, the President of the Argentine Republic, Alberto Ángel Fernández, paid an official visit to Mexico at the invitation of the President of the United Mexican States, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to participate as a special guest and keynote speaker in the ceremony to commemorate the “Bicentennial of the Promulgation of the Plan of Iguala. Flag Day".
The Argentine President is the first Head of State to take part in the celebrations for the fifteen milestone dates of Mexican history during 2021, the Year of independence.
During their productive talks, the Presidents:
Reaffirmed their willingness to strengthen the Mexican-Argentina partnership and to dynamize the strategic relationship by reactivating the bilateral mechanisms of the Committees on Political Affairs, Cooperation, and Economic, Trade and Investment Affairs that are part of the Mexico-Argentina Strategic Partnership Agreement, and by implementing actions that had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the roadmap agreed on during this visit by both Foreign Ministries on 23 February 2021;
Agreed to work together to deal with the health crisis and its socioeconomic effects during the post-pandemic phase, with the goal of improving the conditions of the populations of both countries and of all the region; underscored the role of the Group of Twenty (G20) in reaching global consensus in this regard and agreed to maintain and intensify the work that both governments do in coordination with a view to promoting an approach based on solidarity, social inclusion and sustainable development in respect of all matters of shared interest on the G20 agenda;
Reaffirmed their commitment to continue strengthening the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), through the execution of the Work Plan established by the Mexican Pro Tempore Presidency for 2021; agreed on the fact that today, more than ever, the COVID-19 pandemic has spotlighted the importance of keeping Latin American and the Caribbean strong, united and solidary, so that no country in the region is excluded from universal, fair, equitable and timely access to medicines, vaccines and medical supplies. To this end, they will continue working together so that the region can achieve self-sufficiency in the production of vaccines and so that the vaccines and their patents are considered global common goods;
Reiterated their support for the World Health Organization and the COVAX mechanism as a multilateral tool for equitable access to vaccines;
Welcomed the agreements reached between the Carlos Slim Foundation and the companies Mabxcience and Liomont from Argentina and Mexico respectively and Oxford University for the joint production of the Astra-Zeneca vaccine, which demonstrates regional capacities to achieve self-sufficiency in the production of vaccines;
Acknowledged the potential of the economic relationship between Argentina and Mexico and agreed on the need to increase mutual investments, diversification and deepening of bilateral trade, both in primary products and agriculture, industrial and service goods. To achieve these goals, they agreed to promote strategic partnerships between Argentine and Mexican entrepreneurs, for example in the field of the knowledge economy, with a view to continue developing a mature relationship between both countries’ production sectors; and
Agreed on the need to review and modernize the bilateral economic and trade relationship and undertook to instruct their team to start trade negotiations soon with a view to achieving a comprehensive and ambitious trade agreement.
The Mexican Secretariat of Economy and the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship will set the start date of discussions by the technical teams and will evaluate their progress through a high-level evaluation meeting to be held by September 2021.
- The presidents discussed the positive progress made on outer space cooperation and, particularly, the signing by Argentina and Mexico of the Declaration for the creation of a regional mechanism of outer space cooperation on 9 October 2020 as a platform for the creation of the Latin American and Caribbean Space Agency. They also instructed their respective space agencies to analyse the Argentine proposal for the development of a communications satellite between both countries.
- At the Inter-American level, they agreed to continue strengthening the spirit of the Charter of the Organization of the American States (OAS), which emphasizes non-intervention, respect for self-determination, dialogue, negotiation, consensus-building and the peaceful settlement of disputes, prioritizing the development of a multilateralism that favours the wellbeing and dignity of people.
The presidents agreed on the fact that the OAS Electoral Observation Missions must strictly meet objective technical criteria and that it is necessary to strengthen national capacities in electoral matters. The two leaders highlighted that there is a risk that these missions exceed their authority and that it is necessary to prevent a repetition of the events that took place in Bolivia in 2019. They also agreed to closely follow electoral processes in the region, including the current elections in Ecuador, hoping that this process will end in a timely manner and that democratic continuity will be guaranteed.
The presidents agreed to continue working to strengthen the Inter-American System of Human Rights, mindful of the role and importance of the Commission and the Court as fundamental pillars of the system. Within this context, they expressed their willingness to establish a Consultation and Cooperation Mechanism on Human Rights between the Foreign Ministries of both countries.
- They agreed to advance on the consolidation of the wide-ranging bilateral relations with regard to gender matters, and to work jointly at the regional and multilateral levels on women’s and children’s human rights, so as to achieve the goals of substantial gender equality and economic autonomy of women as established in the IV World Conference on Women in Beijing and in the Sustainable Development Goal 5 of the 2030 Agenda. The presidents also called on women in the region and around the world to take part in the activities of the Generation Equality Forum so as to advance the agenda of their rights.
- President Andrés Manuel López Obrador reiterated the support of the Mexican government and people for the legitimate sovereignty rights of the Argentine Republic over the Malvinas, South Georgias and South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime areas. On this matter, he reaffirmed the need for the governments of the Argentine Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to resume negotiations in order to find as soon as possible a peaceful and definitive solution to the sovereignty dispute, in accordance with the Resolutions of the United Nations Organization and the Declarations of the OAS and CELAC, among other international fora. Speaking for the Argentine government and people, President Alberto Fernández thanked him for the long-standing support in relation to this matter.
- They instructed their Foreign Ministries to move forward with the conclusion of the bilateral legal documents that are pending, and particularly with the negotiation of the Memorandum of Understanding on Humanitarian Aid Cooperation.
- They agreed on the importance of updating the Technical and Scientific Cooperation Programme, moving forward with triangular cooperation schemes, strengthening South-South cooperation and continuing to implement the 2030 Agenda, which are priority topics to be addressed in the 7th Meeting of the Joint Technical and Scientific Cooperation Committee.
- They welcomed the beginning of the negotiations to sign an Executive Programme on Cultural Cooperation for the period 2021-2023, which is aimed at promoting bilateral cooperation alliances for the development of cultural industries, boosting artistic and cultural exchanges, promoting cooperation on cinematographic and audio-visual matters, performing arts and all cultural and art areas. They also agreed on the importance of the creative economies as a driving force for the creation of jobs and added value.
- They welcomed Argentina’s decision to open a Consulate in Playa del Carmen, a consular district that includes the States of Quintana Roo, Yucatán and Campeche as well as Belize. The opening of the Consulate will promote tourism between the two countries and will make it easier to attend to a population of approximately 20,000 Argentine residents and more than 250,000 Argentine tourists that visit Cancun in Mexico annually.
- Argentina will actively take part in the celebrations of other Mexican historic dates in 2021. In September, Argentina will share its most representative artistic and cultural expressions in Mexico City, showcasing the extraordinary relationship between the people and governments of both countries.
Mexico City, 24 February 2021
