Obama Praises Macri as Argentina Comes in From the Cold

Visit follows decade of U.S. tension with Chavez-led bloc
Macri hoping to attract $20 bln in foreign investment in 2016

President Barack Obama waves from Air Force One as he arrives with first lady Michelle Obama at the international Buenos Aires airport, Argentina, early Wednesday, March 23, 2016.
Photographer: Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo

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By Charlie Devereux

March 23, 2016 at 9:00 AM UTC

Updated on

March 23, 2016 at 8:15 PM UTC

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Barack Obama became the first U.S. president to visit Argentina in more than a decade as his counterpart, Mauricio Macri, seeks a rapprochement with the international community following a decade of financial and diplomatic isolation.

Obama, arriving from an historic state visit to Cuba, met with Macri on Wednesday and is scheduled to attend a business forum in Buenos Aires before visiting the southern city of Bariloche on Thursday. Macri, in a joint news conference in Buenos Aires, described Obama as “inspiring” and said the two countries shared common values.