‘What is it like to be re-elected?’: the friendly meeting between Javier Milei and Nayib Bukele in El Salvador

“President, what a pleasure to meet you in person. “What is it like to be re-elected?” the leader of La Libertad Avanza asked Bukele, while They were confused in a hug in the instances prior to the bilateral meeting.

They talked about the “deep reforms” that both are undertaking in their countries, and the Salvadoran president told him: “When the fruits begin to be seen, the mandate ends and now we must manage those fruits,” to which Milei, who is in the first six months of his government in Argentina, he responded: “We are also rowing it. But fortunately, it is working.” Presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni later uploaded an eight-minute video of the meeting to his X account.

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Bukele was surprised when Milei told him that his government had already adjusted 14 points of Argentine GDP. “She is an axe, a blender, she is everything,” the President explained. “Anyone would have said that this was a political catastrophe, and yet we held the event on May 25 and people received the Minister of Economy (Luis Caputo) as a hero, as a rockstar,” highlighted the libertarian leader.

Milei was received with a red carpet at the San Oscar Arnulfo Romero international airport. He attended accompanied by his sister and general secretary of the Presidency, Karina Milei, who also participated in the official greeting to the local president and the first lady, Gabriela Rodríguez. Before the foreign delegations, Bukele thanked his government for its recognition and celebrated: “We finally conquered fear and we are a free country.”

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In the strong hug, both summarized the similarities they showed with their personalistic styles, which many characterize as populist, and the strong insertion in social networks, which played a decisive role in their respective presidential races.

Despite the fact that their governments operate in different political contexts, this Saturday’s meeting was the corollary of the harmony they showed in previous telephone dialogueslike the one they maintained in 2023, when Bukele gave Milei advice to be able to overcome political blockages in the first months of coming to power, with a minority in Congress.
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Milei arrived in the Salvadoran capital after his tour of the United States and met with King Felipe VI of Spain, a few weeks after the strong disagreements he had with the president of the Spanish government, the socialist Pedro Sánchez, during the visit of the Argentine president to Madrid.

The leader of La Libertad Avanza and the Spanish monarch had met in Buenos Aires last December, when Milei took office. The delegations present in San Salvador witnessed the gesture of cordiality with which both heads of state greeted each other from a distance.
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Protocol placed them in separate rows. While King Fel
ipe VI was sitting next to the president of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chávez, the Argentine president was next to the president of the Supreme Court of El Salvador, Óscar Alberto López.

Also present at Bukele’s inauguration were the president of Honduras, Xiomara Castro Zelaya, and the president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa; among other leaders in the region. The foreign delegations were received by the Salvadoran Foreign Minister, Alexandra Hill Tinoco.

Upon arriving in the city of San Salvador, Milei was declared a “distinguished guest” by the local mayor’s office, in a sign of support. With his presence, Milei wanted to give a sign of strong support to his counterpart Bukele, who six months ago did not attend the inauguration of the Argentine president in Buenos Aires, on which occasion he was represented by his Minister of Justice and Public Security, Gustavo Villatoro. .