Luis Ayllón
The President of Argentina, Javier Milei, travelled to Madrid yesterday, where he plans to make his first visit to Spain since taking office, but has not asked to meet with the Spanish authorities.
The visit is of a private nature and will last until Sunday, the 19th, when he will take part in an event at the Europa Viva 24 Festival, organised by Vox at the Palacio de Vistalegre, which other leaders on the right of the political spectrum in their countries have also announced they will attend.
Thus, the Minister of Diaspora Affairs of Israel and the fight against anti-Semitism, Amichai Chikli; the former Polish Prime Minister and MP, Mateusz Morawiecki; the member of the French National Assembly and candidate for the presidency of the Republic, Marine Le Pen; the president of Chega and member of the Portuguese Parliament, André Ventura; and the Chilean MP and leader of the Republican Party, José Antonio Kast, are expected to attend. In addition, the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, and the Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, will participate by videoconference.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez described the Europa Viva 24 Festival as a “meeting of ultra-right-wingers” and regretted that it was being held in Spain.
Milei flew to Madrid yesterday afternoon, bringing his flight forward slightly, in order to cover an agenda that does not include a visit to the King at the Zarzuela Palace, nor a meeting with Pedro Sánchez. Spanish and Argentine sources indicated yesterday that these meetings could take place on the occasion of another visit to our country that the Argentine leader plans to make in June, where on the 21st of that month he will receive the prize awarded to him this year by the ‘think tank’ Juan de Mariana Institute at the so-called ‘Freedom Dinner’.
Milei’s stay in Madrid comes just a few days after a statement by the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, in which he accused the Argentinean President of “taking substances”, provoked a diplomatic conflict between Madrid and Buenos Aires, with an exchange of harsh communiqués from the respective governments.
The spokesman for the Casa Rosada, Manuel Adorni, indicated that Milei will hold “meetings with businessmen” during his stay, without specifying further. Apparently, according to Europa Press, these meetings will take place on Saturday morning at the Argentine Embassy, with representatives of companies such as Telefónica, Banco Santander and Mapfre, which has important interests in the South American country.
According to the agency, the main purpose will be for the companies to inform Milei of their plans in Argentina, and the president is expected to talk to them about the “change in the business climate” and the measures adopted by his administration to “recover financial credibility, such as debt reduction, spending cuts and subsidies”, as well as “economic policies to reduce inflation and stimulate growth”.
The Secretary General of the Presidency and sister of the President, Karina Milei, will be present at the meetings with businessmen, as well as the Argentinean Ambassador to Spain, Roberto Bosch Estévez, who yesterday handed over his Letters of Credence to the King.
On Saturday afternoon, Javier Milei will meet with the president of Vox, Santiago Abascal, with whom he maintains a close relationship, and whom he will meet the following day at the closing ceremony of the Europa Viva24 Festival. At the end of March, Milei promised Abascal to attend the event, writing on his social network account X: “I will be with you again, dear friend…!!!! Long fucking live freedom…!!!!”,
This Friday, shortly after his arrival in Madrid, Milei will go to the auditorium of the newspaper La Razón to present his book “El camino del libertario” (The path of the libertarian).
