The White House has announced President Obama will visit Argentina later this month in a trip that signals a “new era” in the two countries’ relationship, only months after Argentina’s new right-wing president, Mauricio Macri, came to power. Deputy U.S. National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said he expects the U.S. and Argentina to have a closer economic relationship moving forward.

Ben Rhodes: “With respect to Argentina, we definitely anticipate that they’ll be a closer partner on a range of issues. And in fact, President Macri has been a strong voice for democracy and human rights in Latin America. He’s signaled that he’d like to have closer economic and diplomatic cooperation with the United States. So, we believe this is really a new beginning and a new era in our relations with Argentina.”

This comes amid massive protests against Argentine President Mauricio Macri’s economic overhauls, which have included a sharp devaluation of the Argentine peso, the dismissal of nearly 20,000 unionized public sector workers and the elimination of taxes for mining corporations. Macri has also cracked down on press freedoms as he pushes a series of media reforms, which include repealing a law outlawing monopolies by media companies.