UNDER HEAVY SECURITY, OBAMA TOUCHES DOWN IN ARGENTINA IN HISTORIC STATE VISIT

U.S. President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama arrive with their daughters Sasha and Malia at Ministro Pistarini International Airport in Ezeiza, Argentina.

(Photo: JUAN MABROMATA, AFP/Getty Images)

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Kamilia Lahrichi, USA TODAY
BUENOS AIRES — Following his historic visit to Cuba, President Obama and the first family arrived in Argentina early Wednesday for a two-day visit, his first trip to the country since he became president.
Obama, the first lady and their two daughters landed around 1 a.m. GMT (12 a.m. ET) in the capital, which has beefed up its security presence since the terrorist attacks that shook Brussels Tuesday morning. Authorities had shut down several streets and subway stops by midnight. Helicopters were seen flying in the sky, according to the national newspaper, Clarin.
“I consider the rapprochement between the two countries very positive and I would like that they keep having a good relation in the future regardless of who wins the upcoming elections,” said Sofi Romero, an Argentine.
Obama plans to meet with Argentinian President Mauricio Macri Tuesday morning in the presidential palace, where the heads of state may discuss trade, energy, technology, education and the environment. He will join Macri for dinner with 400 guests in the city's eastside Tuesday night and lay a wreath at the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral, where Pope Francis served as archbishop.

A supporter of US President Barack Obama holds sign at the Ezeiza International Airport near Buenos Aires, Argentina March 22, 2016. (Photo: SILVINA FRYDLEWSKY, epa)

“I think that the gesture of President Obama’s visit is very important for us because it shows the interest and the priority of the U.S. administration,” Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra said in a press conference Monday.
Obama's visit will be met with backlash from some Argentines. Thousands plan to protest the American leader's appearance on March 24, the 40th anniversary of a 1976 right-wing coup that had the tacit support of the Ford administration. But a March 2016 poll of 1,000 Buenos Aires respondents found that a majority (66%) sees Obama's visit as a positive change. Respondents say the visit will boost investment and foster reintegration in the world, according to the consultancy Ibarómetro in Buenos Aires.
A week before Obama’s state visit, human rights organizations in Argentina applauded the U.S. decision to declassify military, intelligence and law enforcement records on the South American nation’s “dirty war” — the 1976-1983 government junta against left-wing guerrillas and suspected dissidents — that the U.S. initially supported.
On the edge of the city, in the northern neighborhood of Núñez, a sign that read in Spanish “The United States was also the dictatorship” was posted on a tree in front of the main building of Argentina’s former Navy School of Mechanics, known for being a secret torture center. Fliers in the western neighborhood of Almargo, pictured the U.S. flag with a similar message: "Get out Obama!" [We are] against the impunity of today and yesterday."
Part of the mistrust comes from decades of anti-American sentiment. Previous Argentina administrations, especially the left-leaning Fernández de Kirchner, have often portrayed the U.S. as a hegemonic bully. Macri is keen on restoring Argentina's relations with Western nations, including the U.S., but it doesn't mean he's won over his constituents; almost half of the population did not vote for him.
“The truth is that our experience with the U.S. has historically not been good for Argentina," said Fernanda Vallejos, economic adviser at the Argentina Congress. "The U.S. has intervened throughout history in an unfavorable way economically and politically in Argentina. Hopefully, this does not happen again.”