It was no ordinary ceremony that commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Italian Embassy in Argentina in Buenos Aires on Tuesday evening.
In front of guests of the highest level - including four important ministers of the Argentine government - and with a splendid staging of theatre, light games, music and dance, a century of bilateral relations was retraced and evoked in the elegant residence of Palazzo Alvear - recently restored - with its protagonists.
Among the latter was also Ambassador Fabrizio Lucentini, who at the end of the enthralling initial performance recalled some passages in the history of relations between Italy and Argentina, cemented in 1924 by the decision to open a diplomatic office with the rank of embassy and to acquire a residence that adequately represented the high level of relations between the two countries, the Palazzo Alvear.
"Buenos Aires is full of symbols and architectural testimonies of the connection between our two countries, but Palazzo Alvear in particular tells us two things fundamentally: the first is that the depth of bilateral ties is not a matter of strategic convenience and that it is our common roots that unite us; the second message that comes to us is even more important, and tells us that Italy has always been at Argentina's side and will always remain so," Lucentini said.
And among the more than 100 invited guests, listening to the Italian ambassador was also the new Argentine foreign minister, Gerardo Werthein, as well as the holders of the Economy, Luis Caputo, Justice, Mariano Cuneo Libarona, and Culture, Mario Lugones, who were also accompanied by the president of the Argentine Confederation of Industry (Uia), Daniel Funes de Rioja.
These high-level presences bear witness to the strengthening of bilateral relations sanctioned in the last year by the visit to Rome by President Javier Milei; by the visit to Buenos Aires by the Italian Vice-President and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani; and by the willingness expressed by the President of the Council, Giorgia Meloni, to include an Argentine stop on the sidelines of her trip on 18 November to the G20 in Rio de Janeiro.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
