On April 11 and 12, at the Palace of San Martín, the first international liaison event with municipal governments called “Think Global, Act Local” was held, organized by the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the Casa Patria Grande “President Néstor Carlos Kirchner” and the Meridian Foundation.

The meeting lasted two days and brought together national, provincial and municipal authorities, Argentine ambassadors and foreign diplomats. The opening panel was in charge of the cabinet of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Luciana Tito; the Undersecretary for National Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Marina Cardelli; the executive director of the Casa Patria Grande, Matías Capeluto; and the coordinator of the Strategic Affairs and Foreign Policy Committee of the Meridiano Foundation, Valentina Astudillo Naveda.

With the aim of fostering ties, exchanging experiences and forming networks to connect municipal governments, this meeting valued the work carried out by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Through its highest authorities, the portfolio constantly visits the municipalities, making contact, sometimes for the first time, with the work and production of the localities which contribute substantially to the development of the Nation.

In her presentation, the Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Luciana Tito, said: “When we arrived at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Santiago Cafiero said that he wanted to set up a Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and there were those who, perhaps out of ignorance, said it was not within their purview. We cannot think of a developed or sustainable Argentina if we do not think of the subnational governments, which have an increasingly important role, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it is our duty to accompany them to go to the world , to be able to discuss in this world what are the regional value chains”.

For his part, Cardelli said that “many municipalities in our country are discussing how to develop Argentina in an equitable and sovereign way and how Argentina has a new opportunity on the international map in the years to come. . For this reason, when the Director of National Affairs, Nicolás Sabuncuyan, proposed to me to hold these conferences with the Casa Patria Grande and the Meridiano Foundation, it not only seemed to me a good idea, but also the result of tireless work work that we are developing from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in collaboration with municipalities and provinces throughout the country”.

In turn, the Executive Director of Casa Patria Grande, “President Néstor C. Kirchner”, Matías Capeluto, stressed that “every local government must become a window and must build spaces that connect them to the world”. Entering Argentina’s UNASUR, together with Brazil, opens up opportunities for local governments. Local peoples and governments must be integrated into regional integration processes. The new integration must be multi-actor, multi-level and multilateral. In this sense, it is necessary to reflect on how to contribute to the construction of the new integration agenda in order to articulate and work together”.

In turn, the coordinator of the Strategic Affairs and Foreign Policy Committee of the Meridiano Foundation, Valentina Astudillo Naveda, said that “as a group of reflection and action made up of young professionals from different provinces and cities of the country, we are committed to building a federal government Foreign policy whose axial base is the productive framework of Argentina Development takes place in the territory, where opportunities are generated, and that is where local governments are the protagonists.

About 200 registered participants took part in the sessions, including community leaders, academics, civil society institutions, a specialized public and businessmen from the provinces of Chubut, Entre Ríos, Chaco, Buenos Aires, Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Córdoba, La Pampa, Jujuy, La Rioja, Río Negro, Tucumán, Misiones and Tierra del Fuego. Also present were representatives of the embassies of Mexico, Costa Rica, France, Spain, the European Union, Japan, Cuba, Brazil, China, Croatia, Korea, from India, Canada, Paraguay, Venezuela, Angola, Germany, Chile, Ukraine and Uruguay. , Serbia, Indonesia, Morocco, United Arab Emirates and Belgium; authorities of the International Labor Organization (ILO), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), among others.