He went on to praise the “South Africans who stood up to apartheid, to the Poles of Solidarity,  the mothers of the disappeared who spoke out against the Dirty War, to Americans who marched for the rights of all races, including my own.”

The President Cristina Kirchner and Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman quickly celebrated the words via Twitter.

“Let me tell you that, in his inaugural speech, Obama mentioned the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo,” the President wrote. She went on to write three more tweets on the topic.

Later in the day, she shared a table with Obama during a lunch hosted by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for the world leaders in New York and she was sure to tell him she was elated by the mention. “I’m really very proud for the vindication that President Obama made to our Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, and that’s what I told him.”
Obama never mentioned the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo by name. But even though there are other countries in South America — including Peru, Uruguay, Chile and Guatemala — that have organized groups of “mothers of thedisappeared,” Obama specifically referred to Argentina’s Dirty War, leaving little question of who he was praising.

Fernández de Kirchner said Obama “was very interested in the Argentine situation,” and she revelead that “I told him all that we’re doing to get out of debt … and gave him a preview of some of our economic numbers.”

During a news conference with Argentine journalists, Fernández de Kirchner said “Obama was in a very good mood and that allowed us to chat about Argentina, and respond to everything he asked.”

She also expressed her support for a Palestinian constitution and insisted there “is consensus in the international community for that to happen,” adding that “a key contribution to global security” would involve having Palestine as a “permanent member of the United Nations.”

After meeting with Clinton, Kirchner, who is the secretary-general of Union of South American Nations (Unasur), assured reporters that “there’s a great respect and admiration for the way Argentina has been managing to get out of debt and due to the continued growth of the GDP.”

Kirchner, who is also a lawmaker in the lower house of Congress, said that during his meeting with Clinton the two talked about “the international and national situation,” as well as Haiti and UNASUR.

Kirchner highlighted that Clinton “admired” the steps Argentina has taken to get out of debt and how the “debt restructuring was handled, particularly considering that Argentina didn’t have the help that other countries enjoyed.”

He added, “there’s a very good concept [of Argentina], there’s been a great change and a great understanding of the Argentine situation, which puts me in a very good mood because during my presidency I had difficulty making others understand our situation, that it wasn’t I who had generated it but rather the irresponsible people who generated the default,” he said.

Kirchner later returned for the meeting’s closing ceremonies, also attended by Obama, US First Lady Michelle Obama, and Haiti President Rene Préval, among other notables.

Kirchner in good spirits

Former President Néstor Kirchner appeared to be in good health and spirits as he walked the streets of Manhattan yesterday and, according to his personal doctor, is now free to go about his life as he normally would, 13 days after he was rushed to the hospital and underwent an angioplasty.

When Luis Buonomo, the personal doctor of Kirchner and his wife, was asked about whether the former president had to take any special care considering his recent surgery, he answered: “None, he’s doing very well … the president can go about his day normally,” the Buonomo said to the DyN news agency.

Accompanied by the provisional president of the Senate, José Pampuro, Senator Roxana Latorre, deputy José María Díaz Bancalari, the governor of Entre Ríos, Sergio Urribari; and the deputy Chief of Staff, Juan Manuel Aba Medina, Kirchner walked from 57th street to 54th street to eat at BICE, one of the ruling couple’s favourite restaurants whenever they travel to New York.

Source: Buenos Aires Herald (Argentina)