Spain withdraws ambassador from Argentina; Milei describes the measure as “nonsense” and denies doing anything similar

Spain announced the definitive withdrawal of its ambassador in Argentina, exacerbating the tension between both countries that have their presidents at odds.

The measure to remove María Jesús Alonso from her position in Buenos Aires was announced by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain, José Manuel Albares, who also stated that from now on the embassy in Argentina will be directed by the chargé d’affaires .

The announcement came after the escalation of confrontation between Sánchez and the Argentine president Javier Mileia libertarian economist who took office in December.

“The ambassador will definitely stay in Madrid. “Argentina will continue without an ambassador,” Albares said at a press conference in the Spanish capital.

Once the news was known, Milei said in an interview with the news channel The nation that the measure seemed like “nonsense typical of an arrogant socialist” and stressed that “socialists are capable of doing anything.”

Likewise, when asked if Argentina would take a similar measure, he stressed that it would not.

“If Pedro Sánchez is making a major mistake, I am not going to be so stupid as to repeat such a mistake, so we will keep everything as it has been until now,” Milei said.

“Those who are not up to par with international politics are them because obviously when you take all the facts, it is clear who is at fault,” he added.

The diplomatic storm finally broke out over the weekend after during a visit to Madrid the Argentine president criticized Sánchez and called his wife Begoña Gómez corrupt, taking the tension between both countries to a level that is unprecedented.

Milei’s sayings, made in a meeting of far-right leaders of Europecaused the Spanish government to call its ambassador in Argentina for consultations and demand an apology from the president.

But in a provocative tone, Milei redoubled the bet on Monday by stating in a journalistic interview that “under no circumstances” would he apologize for his criticism of Sánchez and his wife, considering that he had been the one attacked.

The president stated that for weeks he has been the victim of the attacks of several Sánchez ministers who have launched attacks of different kinds, also in reference to the suggestion by the Spanish Transport Minister Oscar Puente that he used drugs. The Spanish official later accepted having made a mistake after the great impact his words had in the South American country.

In addition, Milei once again attacked Sánchez’s wife and the Spanish premier. “Today all over the world there is talk of cases of corruption of women due to influence peddling and they even pressured a judge and he is involved,” the president told the channel. All News on Monday night.

Gómez has been the target of criticism from the far-right party Vox and other leaders of the Spanish right wing after a Madrid court opened an investigation to investigate whether he committed any crime following the complaint made by the conservative group Clean Hands that he had used his position to influence business agreements. Hands Cleans later acknowledged that the lawsuit was based on media reports and the Spanish prosecutor’s office indicated that it should be dismissed.

Milei also maintained that the controversy between both countries “is promoted by Kirchnerism, precisely to create a stir in Argentina,” in reference to the center-left current of Peronism that governed the country for much of the last 20 years.

In this regard, he said that former President Alberto Fernández (2019-2023) is an advisor to Sánchez and that the latter “works aligned with Kirchnerism” to sabotage his government.

But the president stressed that “the relationship (with Spain) is not going to be broken” due to the latest friction.

“The relationship is not built by the leaders, it is built by the people. We receive a lot of immigration from Spain and no one will be able to break this bond. Reality itself is going to impose itself,” he said.

Argentina has received various waves of Spanish immigrants since the 19th century. Both countries maintain strong emotional and economic ties.

Spain is the second largest investor in the South American country after the United States, with more than 17 billion dollars.

In the trade balance between both nations, Argentina has registered a constant surplus throughout the last decade.

[Con información de Reuters y The Associated Press]

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