Argentina, Mexico sign
strategic co-op
agreement
Visiting Argentine
President Nestor
Kirchner and his Mexican
counterpart Felipe
Calderon on Monday
signed a strategic
agreement to boost
bilateral cooperation in
a wide-ranging of
fields.
The agreement covers
such areas as education,
politics, culture,
science, technology and
fighting organized
crime, and stipulates
that the two presidents
will meet every two
years and their foreign
ministers will meet
every year to discuss
issues of mutual
concern.
Kirchner said the
agreement would help
fight poverty in the
region, improve quality
of life and promote
human development,
equity and social
justice.
For his part, Calderon
called the deal the
keystone in the nation's
diplomatic strategy and
would facilitate Latin
American and Caribbean
integration against
world globalization.
Analysts say the
agreement represents the
calming of diplomatic
tension between the two.
In 2005, then Mexican
president Vicente Fox
said that Kirchner had
mishandled the Summit of
the Americas, held in
the Argentine city of
Mar del Plata and
Kirchner responded that
Fox should stick to
Mexican matters.
In 2006, Mexican exports
to Argentina reached 952
million U.S. dollars, up
42 percent from 2005,
and imports climbed 38
percent to 1.978 billion
dollars.
Kirchner is on a
three-day official visit
to Mexico alongside his
wife, senator Cristina
Fernandez, who is a
candidate for the
Argentine presidency in
October elections.
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