Obama looks to remake ties with Argentina

In this Feb. 9, 2016 file photo, President Barack Obama speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. AP File Photo

WASHINGTON, United States—Barack Obama will travel to Argentina next month, offering support to new president Mauricio Macri’s efforts to end a decade-and-a-half of financial isolation and political enmity with Washington.

Macri won elections in November, ending 12 years of leftist and crisis-ridden rule by the late Nestor Kirchner and his wife Cristina.

READ: Argentine President-elect Macri wins with 51.3%—officials

Macri “signaled that he’d like to have closer economic and diplomatic cooperation with the United States,” said top Obama foreign policy aide Ben Rhodes, announcing Obama’s visit.

“We believe this is really a new beginning and a new era in our relations with Argentina.”

George W. Bush was the last president to visit Argentina. But his 2005 trip to a regional summit in Mar del Plata sparked mass protests, rioting and arrests.

“Argentina is a country that, until recently, had a president who had, I’ll say ‘problematic’ relations with the United States,” Rhodes noted.

Argentina is Latin America’s third largest economy, similar in size to Sweden, Nigeria or Taiwan.

But a $100 billion default in 2001 made it a financial pariah, effectively shut out from international capital markets.

Macri has tried to quickly clear the remaining $9 billion worth of claims from bond holders, offering $6.5 billion to settle.

READ: Argentina starts talks with ‘vulture’ creditors

A string of investors have taken up the offer, but large US hedge funds—including Elliott Management and Aurelius Capital—remain among the most notable holdouts.

Obama’s visit will only increase pressure on New York funds to reach a deal.

Until the issue is resolved, Argentina is frozen out of the International Monetary Fund making investment difficult.

Argentine foreign minister Susana Malcorra said that Obama’s visit was a reliable sign that “Argentina is putting itself back on the international stage.”

The US president’s trip—coming after an historic stop in Havana—is likely to focus on investment in renewable energy, agriculture and tourism, Malcorra said.

Obama’s visit will also follow trips to Argentina by the leaders of Italy and France.