The Diplomat
His Majesty the King will be present at the inauguration of Javier Milei as President of Argentina, in a ceremony to be held in Buenos Aires on Sunday 10th, the Royal House announced yesterday.
In recent days there had been speculation that the government might decide not to send the monarch to the ceremony, speculation fuelled by the fact that the head of Government, Pedro Sánchez, did not congratulate the ultra-liberal candidate on his victory in the second round of the presidential elections over Peronist Sergio Massa, whom he publicly supported.
However, as The Diplomat reported, in the end it will be the King who will represent Spain at Milei’s inauguration. This maintains the tradition, which has been fulfilled on most occasions, of Don Felipe attending the inaugurations of Ibero-American presidents. He first did so for many years as Prince of Asturias and later as King.
Although it is also customary for the foreign minister or another minister to accompany the head of state at these ceremonies, on this occasion it is not clear that this will be the case. Foreign Affairs Minister José Manuel Albares’ agenda for the coming week does not include attendance at the inauguration of the Argentine President elected, and it is possible that the Secretary of State for Ibero-America, Juan Fernández Trigo, will accompany the monarch. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated yesterday afternoon in response to questions from The Diplomat that it was not yet known who would accompany the King on this trip.
This is not the first time that no minister has travelled with the King to an inauguration. It recently happened with the inauguration of the Presidency of Paraguay by Santiago Peña. On other occasions, the King has been accompanied by other ministers. In recent years, it has been normal in the inaugurations of left-wing presidents, such as those of Chile, Gabriel Boric, Bolivia, Luis Arce, or Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the then vice-presidents Pablo Iglesias and Yolanda Díaz, or the minister Irene Montero.
After Milei was elected president on 19 November, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a communiqué in which it wished the Argentines “success” in the “new stage” that begins after having voted “democratically”.
“Spain will continue to promote relations with Argentina in favour of the well-being and prosperity of our peoples, both bilaterally and in the Ibero-American and multilateral spheres,” the department headed by Albares said at the time.
In this regard, it argued that the shared interests between the two countries and “the intense historical relationship between the two societies should be the basis of the agenda between the two governments on which Spain intends to continue working”.
