Spain withdraws ambassador from Argentina, Milei calls it nonsense

The tension between Spain and Argentina rose to the maximum on Tuesday after the decision of the president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sanchezto permanently withdraw its ambassador in the South American country, which was described by the Argentine president Javier Milei of “a nonsense typical of a fatally arrogant socialist.”

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, following the escalation of the confrontation between Sánchez and Milei, a far-right economist who assumed the presidency. 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.

The Spanish official pointed out that the relationship “will continue at the chargé d’affaires level” and considered that the bilateral conflict “is not only unique for this government, but unique in the history of international relations,” although he later noted that “For those who want to understand, collaboration is always more powerful than confrontation.”

Once the news was known, Milei disqualified Sánchez and said that Argentina will not take a similar measure with the Argentine ambassador to Spain, Roberto Bosch Estévez. The president also confirmed that he will return to Madrid on June 21 to receive an award from the liberal think tank Instituto Juan de Mariana.

“The amount of common ties we have, cultural and economic, is determined by individuals and those ties will remain. “Sánchez will become the laughing stock of the whole world for the antics he is doing as a result of a personal issue,” Milei said in an interview with the cable news channel La Nación.

Then he blamed Sánchez for suffering from a “Inferiority complex”. Likewise, he warned that the Spanish premier should be helped by a psychologist and his wife Begoña Gómez by “a good lawyer” because ““He has a lot of cases in which he is suspected of influence peddling.”

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.

The diplomatic storm finally broke out over the weekend after during a visit to Madrid the Argentine president criticized Sánchez and called his wife corrupt.

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

After Spanish Foreign Minister Albares also expressed reservations on Tuesday about a new trip by Milei to Spain, the Argentine president confirmed the visit in X. “We will see how far totalitarianism goes in blood,” Milei warned. “Notice, I will travel to receive the Juan de Mariana Prize… we will see if his great inferiority complex allows the Spanish liberals to award me in person.”

Without wanting to tone down the worst diplomatic conflict between both nations, Milei considers that “Under no point of view” He would apologize considering that he had been the one attacked.

The president argues that for weeks he has been the victim of the attacks of several of Sánchez’s ministers who have launched attacks of different kinds, such as that he is a “xenophobe, misogynist and hatemonger” or that he consumes drugs, as hinted by the Spanish Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente. The Spanish official later accepted having made a mistake after the great impact his words had in the South American country.

The leader of the French National Group, Marine Le Pen, and the Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, participated in the meeting of far-right extremists where Milei attacked Sánchez and his wife. It took place on the eve of the European Parliament elections that will be held between June 6 and 9 in the 27 countries of the European Union and in which a strong growth of the extreme right is expected.

Milei also stated that the controversy between both countries “It is promoted by Kirchnerism 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.

Fernández replied on his X account—formerly Twitter—that “Milei caused a major international political disaster in Spain.” “Am I an advisor to Pedro Sánchez? “The president needs psychological assistance promptly,” he added.

Argentina and Spain maintain strong emotional and economic ties. Argentina has received various waves of Spanish immigrants since the 19th century and the European country currently welcomes tens of thousands of Argentines who, in many cases, moved there fleeing the recurring crises in their country.

Spain is the second largest investor in the South American country, after the United States, with more than US$21 billion in 2023, according to data from the Argentine Central Bank.

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