Eduardo González
Wenceslao Bunge Saravia, former CEO of Credit Suisse Spain, has been appointed Argentina’s ambassador to Spain, a position that has remained vacant since last November following the dismissal of the previous ambassador, Roberto Bosch.
Bunge Saravia was chosen by Argentine President Javier Milei and Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein. Furthermore, given his status as a political ambassador, the appointment had to go through the Argentine Senate, which confirmed his nomination on Wednesday with 53 votes in favor and only two against.
Last December, Gerardo Wertheim proposed the appointment of diplomat Alejandro Alonso Sainz to the Embassy in Madrid, but in January he reversed himself, and his appointment was not finalized for unknown reasons.
According to Diario.es and several Argentine media outlets (such as Clarín), Wenceslao Bunge Saravia will have to renounce his Spanish citizenship to hold the position. Bunge, who lived in Spain for almost thirty years and served as CEO of Credit Suisse Spain until July 2021, had been naturalized by the Council of Ministers in March 2023.
The new ambassador will have the complicated mission of improving relations between Argentina and Spain, which were seriously damaged exactly one year ago, when President Javier Milei made a trip to Spain that did not include any meetings with the King or Pedro Sánchez. He also spoke at an event organized by Vox. Without specifically mentioning the Prime Minister or his wife, Begoña Gómez, but clearly referring to both, he lashed out at “socialism” and at “people entrenched in power (…) even when they have corrupt wives and take five days to think about it.”
The Argentine president’s remarks came days after statements by Transport Minister Óscar Puente suggesting that Milei “ingested substances” sparked an initial diplomatic clash between Madrid and Buenos Aires. Following Milei’s remarks, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares recalled his ambassador in Buenos Aires, María Jesús Alonso, for consultations and demanded an apology from the Argentine president.
Milei returned to Spain on June 21, 2024, to receive the Juan de Mariana Freedom Award. During this second trip, he received the International Medal of the Community of Madrid from the regional president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, before whom he lashed out at politicians who “have porous hands,” whether “directly, from a sibling, or from a partner.” These words were interpreted in very different ways (since they could apply both to Sánchez, as Milei intended, and to Díaz Ayuso herself).
