Starting this Friday (21), the president of Argentina will be on his ninth international trip. Most of them to receive awards from entities associated with the far right for their “defense of (economic) freedom.”
In these six months in office, Milei has been to Israel, the United States (4 times), El Salvador, Italy and Spain, where he landed, this Friday, for the second time, to receive two awards. The president of the Community of Madrid and representative of the Popular Party (PP), Isabel Díaz Ayuso, who is an opponent of the socialist leader and president Pedro Sánchez, will present him with an international medal. And Milei will also receive another award for her “contribution to freedom”. Awards also await him in Germany, where he will arrive after his trip to Spain, and in the Czech Republic.
In Spain, Milei should not be received by the current authorities due to public ideological differences (in the case of Pedro Sánchez) and for protocol reasons (in the case of King Felipe VI, who cannot receive a president who avoids the country’s political leader). In Germany, he will be received, on Sunday, by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is a social democrat and progressive. It will be Milei’s first meeting with a leader who does not represent the right or the extreme right.
On his last stop of this new international tour, by Prime Minister Petr Fiala. In both cases, the expectation is that Milei will address issues of interest to Argentina. Clarín journalist in Spanish, Natasha Niebieskikwiat, reports, in this Friday’s edition, that Germany would be interested in minerals and energy from Argentina.
On Wednesday (19), in an interview with the TN channel, in Buenos Aires, Milei was asked about his frequent international trips – and about being awarded. He responded that in this way he seeks to “insert” Argentina back into the international scene. He was also asked about the country’s internal situation, especially those who are experiencing the reality of recession, without enough money to make it to the end of the month.
Milei responded that the situation will improve and that increases in public services, for example, are less harmful than high inflation – the index reached over 25% last December, when the president took office and devalued the peso, and in the month of May, with a sharp drop, registered 4.2%. This June, the index should rise again, according to economists, due to the increase in public service tariffs.
The industry, commerce and construction sectors reflect the strong decline in the economy. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank worsened the forecast for the decline in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – this year’s decline should be 3.5%. With an expected expansion of 5% in 2025, according to these international organizations. But unemployment has already affected around 100,000 people and concerns about social exclusion are growing.