In the almost four months since it came to power in Argentina, the government led by libertarian Javier Milei has faced all kinds of controversies. These have not only occurred internally, they have also escalated to diplomatic crises with other countries.
Some Argentine media report that, in the midst of these crises, the Argentine chancellor, Diana Mondino, has become “a specialist in putting out fires and putting cold cloths to rebuild Argentina's relations with important commercial partners”as the channel reviews All News.
And although this Wednesday's crisis with the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, is the most recent crisis, the list of diplomatic conflicts caused by the Argentine president's statements also includes Mexico, Brazil and China.
The situation with Colombia worsened after an interview granted to Cnn in Spanish which will be broadcast this Sunday but of which the channel previewed fragments. In this, Milei attacked Petro, whom he labels a “terrorist murderer.” In that interview, the libertarian also pointed out that the Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, is “ignorant.”
The preview of that interview provoked a rapid reaction, especially on the part of the Colombian Government, which ordered the expulsion of diplomats from the Argentine embassy in Colombia. although without specifying the number of people affected by this measure or when they will have to leave the country.
It is not the first time that Mr. Milei offends the Colombian President, affecting the historical relations of brotherhood between Colombia and Argentina.
— Colombian Foreign Ministry (@CancilleriaCol) March 28, 2024
“This is not the first time that Mr. Milei offends the Colombian president, affecting the historical relations of brotherhood between Colombia and Argentina,” the Foreign Ministry recalled about the importance of the 200-year-old bond between both countries, since the beginning of their relations diplomatic missions dates back to August 3, 1823.
Since the Argentine presidential campaign, the disagreements between Petro and Milei were evident, who have exchanged reproaches and insults in public over their ideological differences.
For example, on January 26, the Colombian Government called its ambassador in Argentina, Camilo Romero, for consultations, after Milei said in an interview with journalist Patricia Janiot that Petro “is a murderous communist who is sinking” the country.
One month later, on February 24, The Colombian Government once again expressed its “strong rejection” of what it described as “irresponsible statements” by Milei for a new offense against Petrowhom he referred to as “a lethal plague for Colombians themselves,” when asked by a journalist from the channel NTN24.
For his part, Petro classified the electoral victory of his now counterpart as “sad for Latin America,” after comparing his ideas with those of Hitler during the Argentine presidential campaign.
This Thursday, however, in an attempt to reduce tension, Manuel Adorni, Argentina's presidential spokesperson, in an interview with the television channel All Newsstated: “We appeal that the differences between Javier Milei and Gustavo Petro do not affect relations”.
“Milei's position was always the same, he always referred to Petro's past, he confirmed what he said several times about him,” said the spokesperson, who added: “We always appeal to the differences, of an abysmal distance between the ideology of Petro and Milei, do not affect the relationship between the peoples”.
The other diplomatic crises: Mexico, Brazil and China
Milei justified this Thursday his offensive expressions against his Colombian counterparts, Gustavo Petro, and Mexican counterparts, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in the interview he gave to the channel Cnn in Spanishby the “aggressions” that he previously received from them.
“Here I leave you some things that Petro told me” and “some of Amlo's many attacks” are the two messages with which Milei led the publication of journalistic notes on his X account that show that the Colombian had compared him to Hitler and the Mexican had described him as an “ultra-conservative fascist.”
Milei stated that I am “ignorant” because I called him a “conservative faco.”
You are right: I still do not understand how Argentines, being so intelligent, voted for someone who is not accurate, who despises the people and who dared to accuse his countryman Francisco of being…
— Andrés Manuel (@lopezobrador_) March 28, 2024
López Obrador responded hours later: “Milei stated that I am 'ignorant' because I called him a 'conservative faco'. He is right: I still do not understand how Argentines, being so intelligent, voted for someone who is not accurate, who despises to the people,” indicated the Mexican ruler in his X account.
The president of Mexico reiterated that Milei “dared to accuse his countryman (Pope) Francisco of being a 'communist' and 'representative of the Evil One on earth'.” “When he is the most Christian pope and defender of the poor that I have ever known or heard of,” she argued. The Mexican president concluded with a “Post date: hug to Gustavo Petro”.
Petro, for his part, thanked the Mexican president for his solidarity and said he believed “that Milei seeks to destroy, or at least postpone, the project of Latin American integration.”
Meanwhile, the Argentine media All News revealed this Thursday that The Argentine Foreign Minister, Diana Mondino, is trying to calm the waters with Mexico in the midst of this controversy.
Thank you Andres Manuel @lopezobrador_ I believe that Milei seeks to destroy, or at least postpone, the project of Latin American integration. Today the Argentine people suffer and poverty increases. Milei's promise to repeat the neoliberal system of 30 years ago may be a failure… https://t.co/dHOcE19hUC
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) March 28, 2024
But this medium goes further and says that Mondino has had to address similar circumstances with other countries. Todo Noticias lists three cases: Israel, Brazil and China.
In the case of Israel, All News says that this week the Argentine chancellor “had to persuade Senator Martín Lousteau to sign the document from Axel Wahnish – Milei's spiritual guide – for his nomination as Argentine ambassador to Israel, six days after he refused to support him because The version of the move of the diplomatic headquarters from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem complicated the claim of national sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands“.
And he also points out that, “apparently, the Government (of Milei) had to give in on its idea of moving the embassy.”
The other case is that of Brazil. Since the presidential campaign, it was evident that Milei had a certain ideological closeness to former right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro, who today faces an investigation in his country as a suspect of planning a coup d'état that sought to prevent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from assuming the presidency in January. of 2023. In fact, Bolsonaro attended Milei's presidential inauguration in December last year.
However, in contrast, the Argentine president has launched harsh accusations against Lula. In November, when he was already president-elect, Milei called the Brazilian president “corrupt” and a “raging communist.”
For this reason, the local press points out, Foreign Minister Mondino has been trying for months to rebuild the relationship with Brazil, Argentina's main trading partner.
“The Government was forced to try to rebuild the relationship. And it succeeded, in part: although there was no concrete rapprochement between the leaders (Milei and Lula da Silva), Mondino made a trip to Brasilia. The reality is that with As the months went by, the decibels lowered and the total breakup was avoided, although the relationship remains cold,” he says. All News.
Another relevant diplomatic tension was unleashed on behalf of Manuel Adorni. The Chinese embassy in Argentina spoke out a few days ago to deny a statement by the presidential spokesperson about some supposed Covid-19 aid trucks that, according to him, had arrived with “a certain delay.”
The official account of X from the embassy assured: “We do not know the source of information that (Adorni) mentioned, but it is completely incorrect information”.
In his article, All News notes that the Argentine Foreign Ministry “is organizing a trip by Mondino to bring positions closer together and avoid a breakup, taking into account that Argentina must begin to repay (as of June) a loan from China and that, as Milei says, “silver does not this””.
INTERNATIONAL EDITORIAL – EL TIEMPO
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