The victory of Javier Milei has shaken Latin America and has unleashed reactions for and against that predict times of tension.
As other leftist governments in the region such as Venezuela had done, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador joined the criticism of Milei on Tuesday although he ruled out a possible break with Argentina, alleging that there is “very good relations with the Argentine people.”
“We respect the decision made by a majority group in Argentina. “We respect that decision, although it is something that we consider will not help them,” the president said in his morning conference when expressing his open rejection of the right-wing governments that he considered “racists” and “hypocrites.”
“It is already public and notorious that we do not agree with those who support an authoritarian, privatizing, racist, classist policy”indicated López Obrador when remembering the deceased dictators Francisco Franco of Spain, the Chilean Augusto Pinochet and the Argentine Jorge Videla, but he ruled out comparing them with Milei.
López Obrador maintained that the Argentine elections were influenced by “media control” right. “There is a lot of manipulation. To say it, in a word, with all due respect, it was an own goal.”
The Mexican president also mentioned the former Argentine president Mauricio Macri (2015-2019) and pointed out that he had agreed with the International Monetary Fund, with the support of the then US government, to grant him “excessive credits” to achieve the re-election that he ultimately did not obtain.
“The Monetary Fund that put Argentina into debt, now it has to help them. Maybe now that there is a sympathizer of theirs, they decide to fulfill the responsibility they have for causing the crisis in Argentina.”, he noted.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro stated on Monday that Milei’s victory represents “a tremendous threat” for Latin America and the Caribbean. “The neo-Nazi extreme right won in Argentina”Maduro said in his weekly radio and television program.
The South American ruler affirmed that Milei intends to lead a continental project that is “absolutely colonial, kneeling to North American imperialism.”
The Colombian ruler Gustavo Petro also joined the criticism of Milei’s victory in Argentina, who on Sunday expressed on his social network account X, formerly Twitter, that it was an electoral result. “sad for Latin America… neoliberalism no longer has a proposal for society, it cannot respond to humanity’s current problems.”
When referring to the elected president, Petro said that the ties between Colombia and Argentina will remain under the “mutual respect” and indicated that he hopes that the Argentine left will do the “valuations that allow the Latin American peoples to learn from the lessons of history.”
Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele reacted to Petro’s comments, mocking his Colombian counterpart on the social network, pointing out “Now say it without crying.”
Other left-wing leaders in the region such as Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and Gabriel Boric of Chile were more moderate regarding the electoral results of the neighboring country and on the same Sunday they congratulated the new government.
Despite Milei’s criticism of Brazil, Lula expressed his willingness to continue working with Argentina. “Democracy is the voice of the people and must always be respected… Argentina is a great country and deserves all our respect”said the Brazilian president on his X account.
However, the Brazilian president’s foreign policy advisor, Celso Amorín, declared the day before to local media that Lula would not attend Milei’s inauguration, scheduled for December 10, because “was personally offended”.
At the moment it is unknown if Boric will go to the change of command in Argentina. Minister spokesperson Camila Vallejo said on Monday that “That will depend a lot on the presidential agenda” but he stressed that “Our central objective is to maintain a good diplomatic relationship with Argentina.”
In December 2021, after Boric’s victory in the presidential elections, Milei had said that he thought “truly terrible news” and? “The problem is that Boric is extreme left, he is a communist.”
Boric is a member of Convergencia Social, a member party of the leftist Frente Amplio.
The election of the leader of La Libertad Avanza, who won by a large majority in Sunday’s elections over the official candidate Sergio Massa, also became a topic of debate in Mexican politics.
Some conservative former Mexican presidents such as Vicente Fox (2000-2006) and Felipe Calderón (2006-2012) and the presidential candidate of an opposition coalition, Xóchitl Gálvez, congratulated Milei and considered her victory “historical”.
But the official presidential candidate, Claudia Sheinbaum, called on Mexicans, particularly young people, to defend in the June 2024 elections the achievements obtained during López Obrador’s six-year term and not allow “return to the past of corruption and privilege” and the “years of neoliberalism.”
Source: Gestion
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