The Diplomat in Spain

The Diplomat

The Government is confident that there will be no escalation in the diplomatic conflict with Argentina following the words of the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, about the Argentine President, Javier Milei, and the response of the Casa Rosada, which was very critical of the head of the Executive, Pedro Sánchez, according to government sources consulted by The Diplomat.

Despite the harshness of the response from the Office of the President of Argentina and the outright rejection of its content by the Spanish government, it is appreciated that, at least so far, there has been no diplomatic action of any kind, such as summoning the respective ambassadors or sending verbal notes of protest.

The fact that the clash took place over the weekend may contribute to the cooling of tensions, despite the fact that the Argentine Interior Minister, Guillermo Francos, called for a formal protest on Saturday.

Neither Madrid nor Buenos Aires wants to raise the tone of the disagreement, aware that bilateral relations are sufficiently important, both historically and economically, to contribute to their deterioration.

Moreover, in Moncloa they know that what Puente’s words referring to the ingestion of “substances” by Milei have provoked is that in the Argentine media and as a result of the response of the Argentine Presidency, the alleged corruption case of Begoña Gómez, Pedro Sánchez’s wife, has been discussed in recent days.

Yesterday, there was no reference to the matter by the Spanish authorities and only the former Argentine president Alberto Fernández, spoke out, expressing his support for Sánchez and his criticism of Milei via social network X. “Nothing justifies – he wrote – that in his complaint he joins a shameful campaign of defamation to the detriment of Sánchez and his family”.

In any case, tensions could flare up again when, on the 18th, Milei appears in Spain to take part in an event organised by Vox. The Argentine president has apparently not requested any contact with the head of the Spanish government, nor is it known, for now, that there are any plans to go to the Zarzuela Palace to meet the King, with whom he already met in Buenos Aires in December, on the occasion of his inauguration.