December 21, 2016 — Buenos Aires, Argentina
An AJC leadership delegation met with Argentine President Mauricio Macri yesterday in Buenos Aires.
The private meeting was the centerpiece of a two-day visit that also included meetings with the Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs Gustavo Slauvinen, U.S. Ambassador Noah Mamet, and Israeli Ambassador Ilan Sztulman.
The AJC group was led by CEO David Harris and Chair of AJC's Belfer Institute for Latino and Latin American Affairs (BILLA) Mario Fleck, a prominent businessman and Jewish leader from Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Among the principal topics of discussion were: (a) expanding U.S.-Argentinian bilateral and hemispheric relations; (b) ongoing efforts by the Macri administration to implement economic and other reforms; (c) deepening Argentinian-Israeli ties; (d) regional security challenges; and (e) the tragic legacy of the 1992 and 1994 terrorist attacks against the Israeli Embassy and AMIA in Buenos Aires, as well as the circumstances of the unresolved death in 2015 of Alberto Nisman, the special prosecutor in the 1994 AMIA bombing case.
"Argentina is a country with substantial regional and global potential," said Harris, who has been traveling regularly to Buenos Aires for three decades. "Under President Macri it is making impressive strides to fulfill that potential, including deepening links with the U.S. and Israel. We were there to acknowledge the progress that's been achieved and discuss ways of enhancing it still further."
The visit was organized by BILLA, in cooperation with AMIA, AJC's longstanding institutional partner in Argentina. It was AJC's second trip to Buenos Aires in the past four months alone, reflecting the importance the global agency attaches to the country. BILLA is led by its Washington-based director, Dina Siegel Vann.
