06/22/2024 – 12:08
Hundreds of people took to the streets of Hamburg to protest against the Argentine president. In the city, Milei received a medal from a controversial neoliberal group that maintains ties with ultra-right politicians. Hundreds of demonstrators protested this Saturday (22/06) in Hamburg, in northern Germany, against the president of Argentina, Javier Milei, who is in city to receive a tribute from a neoliberal foundation that has ties to ultra-right politicians.
The call for the demonstration was made by organizations from the Argentine and Latin American diaspora, German NGOs and left-wing organizations.
On Sunday, Milei is still expected to meet briefly with Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in a visit whose schedule has been drastically reduced in recent days.
Tribute from a group associated with the ultra-right
With banners with messages such as “Neoliberal Misery”, some activists gathered in front of the hotel where Milei received the medal from the Hayek Society, a think tank founded in 1998 originally to promote the liberal ideas of Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek (1899-1992) this afternoon. .
In recent years, however, the society has come to be seen as a controversial entity following the entry of several members of the ultra-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, in a movement that was described by a former liberal member as a process of “ infiltration by reactionaries.” As a result, dozens of former liberal members left the society in the 2010s.
“Anti-Milei month”
Parallel to the protests in front of the hotel where Milei received the honor, around 400 other people, according to regional broadcaster NDR, marched to demand the annulment of the award of the medal, holding posters reading messages such as “Milei is not freedom, it is fascism ” and “Argentina is not for sale.”
The call was part of the so-called “anti-Milei month”, a series of events called in various parts of Germany by a platform of Argentine and German organizations.
The agenda of protests against the Argentine president ends this Saturday in Berlin with a “festival of democracy” that includes tango classes and live music.
Meanwhile, headlines in the main German newspapers this Saturday described Milei’s visit as that of a “difficult guest”.
Reduced visit
After receiving the Hayek Medal in Hamburg, Milei will travel to Berlin, where he will meet on Sunday with German Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz in what was described by authorities as a “brief working visit” that will end up being shorter than what was initially expected.
Originally, the Argentine would be received with military honors and should participate in a joint press conference with Scholz. But the plans were changed at the last minute, according to the German government, due to the Argentine president’s refusal to speak to journalists.
“In the end it is a very brief working visit, at the request of the Argentine president”, explained on Friday the spokesman for the German government, Steffen Hebestreit, who stressed that there was a “clear refusal” by Milei to participate in a press conference of press. According to Hebestreit, Chancellor Scholz “meets with many heads of state and government (…), he is closer to some than others (…). He also talks to difficult partners.”
However, German media outlets have also speculated that the shortened visit may be related to comments from a German government spokesman who this week described Milei’s aggressive statements against Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez as “bad I like”. In May, during a trip to Madrid to participate in a convention of the ultra-right Spanish party Vox, Milei referred to the wife of the Spanish Prime Minister, Begoña Gómez, as a “corrupt woman”, generating diplomatic tension between Spain and Argentina.
jps (DW, EFE, ots)
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