( Spanish) – Javier Milei played his cards for Donald Trump, who won the United States presidential election this Tuesday.
After knowing the result, the president of Argentina made all kinds of publications on social networks celebrating them: photos of lions hugging the president-elect, tweets in English and Spanish with his congratulations, including one in which he speaks to Trump and even a video in TikTok.
The new Argentine foreign minister, Gerardo Werthein, told LN+ this Wednesday that they were looking for a conversation with the president-elect, which has not yet occurred because “we must understand that Trump did not sleep all night”, but that “it will happen” .
Trump said Thursday that he had already spoken with more than 20 world leaders. Among them were the leaders of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, and of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, according to the versions they told of those conversations. The Casa Rosada revealed on Wednesday that Milei had exchanged text messages with Elon Musk, supposedly seeking mediation to finalize the conversation with Trump. As anticipated by the president-elect himself, the owner of X, Tesla and SpaceX, who played a determining role in the Republican campaign, would have a key place in the next administration.
Javier Milei played his first strong card for Donald Trump. In February, at a far-right event in Maryland that functioned as a campaign event for the Republican, the president of Argentina told him: “You were a great president and I hope you will be again.”
A few hours ago, still in Buenos Aires, he had received Antony Blinken, President Joe Biden’s Secretary of State, at Casa Rosada, the headquarters of the Government. There was mutual praise and even a greeting on the balcony in front of Plaza de Mayo.
Regarding the praise for Trump, which some considered a provocation or a diplomatic error, Milei responded in an interview with Andrés Oppenheimer on that his alignment was with the North American country, regardless of his partisan preferences (although he made them public).
“It was behind a stage, in protocol terms it doesn’t count,” he argued.
Although Milei never met face to face with Biden, the relationship with the White House during his administration has flowed with meetings between officials and no surprises.
During the campaign, Milei insisted. The second letter in favor of Trump was when Kamala Harris was already the Democratic candidate. In an interview with the local press, he referred to the Republican as one of the two most relevant politicians on the planet (the other was himself).
And in parallel there was another construction. Between April and September, the Argentine president met three times with Elon Musk, a magnate who invested some US$119 million in Trump’s campaign, according to documents presented to the Federal Electoral Commission, and who agreed to head a new agency for the next government, according to the Republican.
In his talk with LN+, Werthein said that Milei had exchanged some messages with Musk “via chat.”
These are just some of the more explicit gestures. Everyone was aware of Milei’s partisan position on the elections in the United States, but the Argentine president did not adopt a more intense position as he did for the elections to the European Parliament.
Finally, Milei’s wish was fulfilled. Trump won, Musk is the new thing in the future US government and now, what can we expect? Will he receive a prize for his bet?
Analysts consulted by agree that Milei is positioned in a regional leadership role.
Martín Schapiro, a lawyer specialized in international relations, says that Trump’s victory is, above all, a political boost for those who have affinity with him and points out the Argentine president as “the most aligned of all American leaders.”
Alejandro Frenkel, researcher and professor of International Relations at the National University of San Martín, in Buenos Aires, makes a reading in harmony, which distinguishes Milei in ideological opposition to other governments in the region.
“In Brazil there is Lula Da Silva, in Chile there is a socialist president, in Colombia – which has historically been one of the great allies of the United States – there is a government that, although it does not pose a challenging position, is not like the previous ones,” He says and concludes that “almost by discarding” Milei remains. “In addition, Argentina continues to be an important country in South America,” he adds.
However, this does not mean that Milei will be a priority for the new Trump administration. One of the expectations that analysts maintain that exists in the Argentine government is the possibility that Trump will facilitate a new loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as happened in 2018 with the then president, Mauricio Macri.
In this regard, Frenkel says that, although political harmony can work in favor, precedent can generate the opposite.
“It was a loan that was made with considerable internal opposition from the Fund, both from the technical staff who did not agree or presented serious doubts regarding whether it was sustainable for Argentina, in terms of whether it would be able to pay, and also from others. member countries of the Board, European countries and Japan,” he explains.
Schapiro points out that another problematic aspect is that “the monetary strategy that Argentina pursues is difficult for the Fund’s technicians.” In the same sense, Frenkel adds that “the Fund always promotes floating exchange rates, the fact of almost fixing an exchange rate is something that they generally do not agree with.”
The political support that Schapiro spoke of seems to be reflected in what happened in the hours following Trump’s victory, according to the analyst: the country risk fell in Argentina and while the dollar strengthened and the currencies of some emerging economies fell, the local peso stood firm.
“Getting along with the United States is a hallmark of reputation that adds to any country and especially to Argentina, considering its history,” agrees Frenkel.
A new stage is coming in Milei’s relationship with these strong leaders, who will now have new challenges of their own ahead of them. In that sense, we will have to see how the Argentine president deals with another scenario in which he is not the protagonist.
“Milei can fall into a problem of overexpectations, expecting more from the Trump government than what it can actually offer and that generates a miscalculation (…) The optimism of hoping that a good relationship can lead to benefits is understandable. economic for the country, but Argentina is not a priority for the United States,” says Frenkel.
Add Comment