New foreign minister has links, resources and Milei’s trust

Argentina's incoming foreign minister, Gerardo Werthein, has established a friendly relationship with Javier Milei and the head of state’s sister, presidential chief-of-staff Karina Milei. Today, he is one of the President's main advisors on foreign affairs.

Werthein is not the first such US ambassador to do so – many in the Foreign Ministry remember Jorge Argüello performing a similar role for Alberto Fernández. Different times, similar mechanics.

Werthein has a different imprint to Argüello though. The new ‘canciller’ is a powerful businessman with interests in the agricultural, insurance and telecommunications industries. In addition, he has forged links internationally thanks to his time as head of the Argentine Olympic Committee, and later as a member of the board for the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The new foreign minister, who will begin his new job in earnest after the US election on November 5, has been supporting Milei's international agenda since before the President took office. He provided the resources for the then-president-elect to have a meeting with former US president Bill Clinton in New York City, a meeting also attended by former US senator Chris Dodd (both big names in the Democratic Party).

Werthein even provided the plane that Milei travelled to the United States on ahead of the meeting (a trip estimated to cost some US$300,000 if chartered). A number of Milei’s top officials, including some of his inner circle, also joined that trip – Karina Milei, Economy Minister Luis ‘Toto’ Caputo, presidential advisor Santiago Caputo, Cabinet Chief Nicolás Posse, as well as Werthein himself.   

Werthein's well-oiled links with the Democrats have not been an impediment to his appointment by Milei in the middle of a US presidential campaign – the soon-to-be former ambassador was the only Argentine to attend the wedding of Bill Clinton’s daughter, Chelsea Clinton.

It is unclear who connected Werthein to Milei. Some say it was a "leading Argentine communicator. It is known, however, that the La Libertad Avanza leader’s dinner visits to the businessman’s home were increasingly frequent during the election period.

The future head of the Palacio San Martín knew how to wield power and influence from his role in Washington. Some speak of a sort of “parallel foreign ministry” that operated out of Washington. Werthein monopolised links with the country's interlocutors with international organisations based in the US – for example, with Miguel Braun at the Inter-American Development Bank, and Daniel Pierini, a career diplomat who sits on the World Bank's Board of Directors.

The relationship with Leonardo Madcur is also assiduous. Madcur, who was Argentina's representative to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) when Economy Minister Sergio Massa was in charge, has continued in his post. Madcur has a friendship with Milei – in the President's book El camino del libertario, Madcur is even namechecked by the head of state.

Werthein influenced the appointment of Francisco Tropepi as ambassador to the United Nations. Tropepi was transferred from the Israeli Embassy to replace Ricardo Lagorio, a career diplomat targeted for his links to the United Nations’ 2030 agenda since the beginning of Milei’s administration. Lagorio received questioning and public criticism from former Worship secretary Francisco Sánchez.

Some say that the next diplomat to be expelled from their post could be Sonia Cavallo, Argentina's representative to the Organisation of American States (OAS).

Werthein will take over Argentina’s Foreign Ministry after the US elections. It will be a challenging time: the G20 will be held in November in Brazil, and French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will visit Argentina around the same time. 

He will also have to work to organise a summit with Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader, after Milei's dramatic turnaround with regard to the Asian giant.