“President Milei spoke with the truth”, said yesterday the spokesperson of the Casa Rosada, Manuel Adorni, who described the Argentine president’s trip to Spain as “successful”. Adorni was “surprised” and assured that he did not understand “the reason for his resentment” or the “showy and impulsive threats” of the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares. “The Argentine president did not mention anyone in particular”, he added, although he later said that, if “hypothetically” Milei had referred to Pedro Sánchez’s wife, it would be something less relevant, compared to “the amount of complaints” that the ultra-liberal leader has received from the Spanish Government. And Adorni made reference to the words of ministers Óscar Puente and Diana Morant, those of vice-president Yolanda Díaz, or those of Sánchez himself.
“Whoever fits the jacket, let him wear it”, added the spokesperson, and clarified that this controversy “has nothing to do with diplomatic issues, it is a matter between people”. Adorni insisted that Milei “will not communicate” with Sánchez and that, on the contrary, he hopes that it will be the head of Moncloa who apologizes “publicly”.
Madrid’s Sunday speech was written, but the unquestionable reference to Sánchez’s “corrupt woman” was improvised. “He was speaking and, when he made reference to the ‘kind of people screwed to power’, it occurred to him to say what he said,” a source close to Milei explained yesterday to La Vanguardia from Buenos Aires.
Adorni also stated that he does not believe that this incident will affect Spanish investments in Argentina. In fact, he linked the “success” of the trip to the meeting that Milei held on Saturday in Madrid with the main Spanish companies and highlighted the presence of the president of the CEOE, Antonio Garamendi. The spokesman took out iron, when the Spanish correspondents reminded him that he unmarked from the exaggeration of Milei, after participating in a meeting in which – with a precaution that has turned out to be providential – the majority of the presidents of the companies no longer attended, who sent them their second swords.
Spain is the second investor in Argentina, after the USA. And yesterday the local press was not lenient with Milei, not even La Nación, which tends to be contemplative with the anarcho-capitalist leader, especially his television channel. In an article that started on the front page, the magazine warned about the risks of “another bet on conflict and excess”. The conservative newspaper quoted – without identifying – a source close to former liberal president Mauricio Macri who expressed his concern. Macri’s party is a partner in the Argentine Government and its main parliamentary support. In another article, he listed the $200,000 cost of Milei’s trip to Spain – which has popularized the slogan “no hay plata” to justify the savage cuts -, without any other official activity than the meeting with businessmen.
“We trust that after overcoming the electoral processes in Europe that motivate these actions, we can restore relations”, said Adorni. Milei’s words – and the Spanish overreaction – must be contextualized in the European elections. Without ignoring the doubts about Milei’s mental health, which make his movements unpredictable, the Argentinian leader’s speech was written and designed to electorally favor the European far-right and, especially, his “friend” Santiago Abascal, leader of Vox.
Milei feels like the great world leader of ultra-liberalism and nothing better than competing with the main progressive European leader, Pedro Sánchez, who maintains an uncompromising speech with the ultra-right or with the bombings of Gaza by Israel, fully endorsed by a Argentine president who wants to convert to Judaism.
The president landed in Buenos Aires yesterday after spending the entire flight tweeting, retweeting and responding to messages of support from his Argentine and Spanish supporters, some of whom were asking him to travel more to Spain. Milei sent hundreds of messages during the flight and ordered his entourage not to take a single step back in the controversy.
