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The trip will
follow the couple's visit to Cuba on March 21 and 22, another
major step toward ending decades of animosity between former
Cold War foes.
They will meet with newly elected Argentine President Mauricio
Macri on March 23 and fly to Bariloche the following day, Kevin
Sullivan, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Buenos
Aires, told Radio Mitre.
The stopover in ski-destination Bariloche, known for its crystal
clear lakes and panoramic mountain vistas, appeared to be first
lady Michelle Obama's idea, Sullivan said.
"I believe she heard what Bariloche is like ... and it seemed to
her it would be a good place to share a little family time,"
Sullivan said.
Relations have improved between Argentina and the United States
since Macri took office in December. Macri has moved to open
Latin America's No. 3 economy to foreign investment by ditching
trade and currency controls enacted by his predecessor.
"It seems to us to be a good moment for President Obama to get
to know Argentina and have a dialogue with President Macri,"
Sullivan said. The agenda will include international
cooperation, terrorism, human rights and energy investment.
Argentina has some of the world's largest untapped shale oil and
natural gas formations. China is a major investor in Argentina's
energy and grains sectors.
March 24 will be the 40th anniversary of the 1976 coup that
installed a military dictatorship, which the United States
initially supported. Argentina returned to democracy in 1983.
Adolfo Perez Esquivel, who won the Nobel peace prize for his
human rights work during the dictatorship, wrote an open letter
to Obama this week saying that if the U.S. president stayed in
Buenos Aires on the 24th, many Argentines would see that as "a
provocation."
Marches and demonstrations in honor of the victims of the
military junta are planned for that date in the Argentine
capital.
(Reporting by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Richard Chang)
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