Argentina's President Alberto Fernández and president-elect Javier Milei met at the Quinta de Olivos presidential residence on Tuesday morning to begin talks on the handover of power.
The La Libertad Avanza leader, who won last Sunday's run-off defeating ruling coalition candidate Sergio Massa, arrived at the presidential residence on the outskirts of Buenos Aires at around 8.17am.
After the pair had spent more than an hour together, an official photograph of the encounter was released to the press.
The meeting lasted two-and-a-half hours in total, according to government sources consulted by Perfil. The international agenda was reviewed, along with "state issues" and the handover of teams began, the sources added.
"It lasted two and a half hours. It was friendly, respectful and institutional," sources also the Noticias Argentinas news agency.
Government sources said the the libertarian did not make "any request on any issue," although he promised to limit his criticism of the Unión por la Patria administration for the remainder of the month, while the current president did the same.
Milei arrived accompanied by Nicolás Posse, the man tipped to be his future Cabinet chief. Fernández was joined by his Secretary General to the Presidency, Julio Vitobello.
"The President of the Nation, Dr. Alberto Fernández, received this morning the President-elect Dr. Javier Milei, who will assume his constitutional functions at the head of the National Executive Power as of December 10," said the Presidency in a statement.
The communiqué continued: "The meeting took place at the Olivos presidential residence, with the aim of initiating the process of institutional transition between the teams appointed by both for the different areas of government."
The Presidency's press office released the official image of the meeting simultaneously, an image showing both leaders seated in one of the exterior galleries of the presidential residence.
Since Milei's victory, there has been a series of comings and goings and rumours regarding the start of the transition process. An encounter was originally scheduled for Monday, but later postponed. Finally, coordination between the teams of the president-elect and Fernández was unblocked at the last minute last night, Perfil reported.
The head of state had called the president-elect on Sunday night after his resounding victory over Massa.
This was the libertarian's first visit to the Quinta de Olivos, where he will live from December 10. He has already announced that he intends to work from there and not use the presidential office at the Casa Rosada, as is the normal custom.
– TIMES/PERFIL
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