The United States’ top diplomat Antony Blinken offered praise for President Javier Milei on Friday as he talked up future opportunities and bilateral relations – yet he left Argentina warning the libertarian leader not to backtrack on human rights.
Blinken arrived in Buenos Aires on Thursday night for his final stop of a whirlwind tour of Latin America.
The US secretary of state travelled to Argentina after participating in a meeting of G20 foreign ministers in Brazil hosted by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
After a quick tour of some pointed landmarks – including Buenos Aires’ famed Cabildo and Plaza de Mayo square – on Friday morning, the US secretary of state met with President Milei in the Casa Rosada for talks.
“I couldn’t be more pleased with the meeting with President Milei,” said Blinken later that afternoon at a press conference with Foreign Minister Diana Mondino.
But while talking up future growth areas and improved relations between the Joe Biden and Javier Milei administrations, Blinken also delivered light criticism of the Argentine leader’s approach to rights issues, not least women’s rights.
A defender of the free market and a self-proclaimed “climate change sceptic,” Milei has previously attacked the “radical feminist agenda” of the left. He has criticised his predecessor’s creation of a Women, Gender & Diversity Ministry in Argentina, a portfolio he shuttered upon taking office.
Hinting at discontent at some of Milei’s positions and his foul-mouthed aggressive criticism of rivals, Blinken said he had spoken with the libertarian leader about the importance of “leading by example and working together to realise the full promise of our democracies.”
“And that starts, in many ways, in acknowledging our own shortcomings,” the US diplomat said pointedly, before going on to praise Argentina’s “strong and long history of addressing labour rights, the rights of women and girls, human rights more broadly.”
“Those areas continue to be important areas of cooperation” for both governments, he declared.
Mondino denied Milei had attacked women and said the president supported equal rights and equal treatment for all.
“It is not an attack on women, it is an attack on the ideas,” she said.
“Social justice should be to give each and everyone equal opportunities,” she said, “not taking [them] away from someone else.”
‘Critical role’
Blinken was happier to highlight the “critical role” Argentina can play in helping the world shift to clean energy, noting key US investments in mining minerals.
The secretary of state spoke of the “extraordinary opportunities here in Argentina,” underlining that the nation has resources that “the world needs.”
"We want to create a supply chain to critical minerals such as lithium. Our companies are making important investments, especially in the northwest," he said.
"We want US companies to continue to be Argentina's partner of choice," Blinken continued.
“We want to be a partner in Argentina helping to feed the world and fuel the world going forward,” declared the US official, marking his host nation’s agricultural potential.
Blinken, who took questions on the Middle East and Ukraine from US reporters, went on to highlight the shift in foreign policy under Milei, who has proclaimed his government will be closer to the West and, in particular, the United States and Israel.
“We value Argentina’s leadership on regional and global security efforts,” said Blinken.
In a nod to the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Blinken announced new sanctions on more than 500 Russian individuals and entities as a response to the conflict.
The United States’ top diplomat also highlighted Milei’s condemnation of the October 7 attacks by Hamas militants on Israel and hailed the rescue of two Argentine-Israeli hostages from Gaza earlier this month.
“The United States and Argentina are working on just about every issue of consequence to our people, but also to people across the world,” declared Blinken.
“We look forward to expanding our partnership in the years to come,” he concluded.
Argentina is “willing and eager to support democracy and common values” across the world, agreed Mondino.
Speaking to reporters before his meeting with Blinken, Milei said he would tell the US official that "Argentina has decided to return to the side of the West, to the side of progress, to the side of democracy and, above all, to the side of freedom."
Social unrest
Blinken's visit comes amid rising social tension in Argentina as Milei’s vast spending cuts and strict austerity measures kick in.
As the US secretary of state met with the president and staged his later press conference with Mondino, social organisations and picket groups protested in downtown Buenos Aires, demanding greater food aid amid rising poverty.
Earlier this week, railway workers walked off the job, stalling trains nationwide. Healthcare professionals also protested, while teachers are due to walk off the job next week when the state school year begins.
Blinken said it is “vital” to “stabilise” the crisis-stricken country, though he refused to offer an opinion about Milei’s stated intention to dollarise Argentina’s economy.
Mondino and his US counterpart also brushed away questions about Milei’s relations with Biden, given his apparent support for his rival in this year’s US election, Donald Trump.
Argentina’s president will fly to Washington DC later today to attend the meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), the Republican summit that famously supported Trump’s successful run to the White House in 2016.
Trump is due to appear at CPAC, which began two days ago. Organisers have yet to confirm if the Republican leader will meet with Milei, which would provide a photo opportunity for both leaders, who have both spoken well of each other in the past.
Blinken refused to bite on questions about what that could do for relations between the United States and Argentina.
Towards the end of the press conference, one reporter asked if – given the fact that Milei has criticised many of the key progressive causes championed by Biden – the two heads of state were really compatible, despite all the positive remarks?
“We have a lot of things in common with the US,” responded Mondino.
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