President Javier Milei has snubbed his foreign minister and chosen to take his sister with him to a high-profile gathering of top world leaders in Italy next month.
Argentina’s Foreign Minister Diana Mondino will not travel to the upcoming G7 Leaders Summit in Italy with her place going to presidential chief-of-staff Karina Milei, government sources confirmed to the Noticias Argentinas news agency on Monday.
According to the sources, the decision is based on the limited number of accreditations Argentina will be allowed for the summit.
Nevertheless, the decision not to take Mondino – the nation’s top diplomat – to such a high-level gathering is unusual, to say the least. The foreign minister regularly accompanies the head of state to high-level summits and the decision is likely to stoke further rumours that the official’s future in government is in doubt.
The G7 includes the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Germany, Italy and Canada. Argentina is not a member and President Milei has been invited as a guest by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who will host.
Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Milei’s fellow Argentine, Pope Francis, have also been invited, as has recently re-elected Indian Prime Minister Narender Modi. Other world leaders are also expected to attend.
Last week, reports emerged that Milei himself had chosen to snub the G7 summit, though he reversed that decision within hours of it leaking out.
Argentina’s leader is set to travel to Europe on June 12 for the summit, which will take place at Borgo Egnazia. He is expected to spend three days in southern Italy before returning to Buenos Aires.
News of Mondino’s absence from the event emerged just hours after it emerged that the official had lost control of an international trade foundation.
Responsibility for the Fundación Argentina para la Promoción de Inversiones y Comercio Internacional (Argentine Foundation for the Promotion of Investment and International Trade) has now been passed to Karina Milei’s office, the government revealed in the Official Gazette.
“The transfer is being made because we believe that it will be more efficient to depend on the Presidency, because everything that depends on the country's brand and selling Argentina to the world will depend on it,” said Presidential Spokesperson Manuel Adorni at a press conference on Monday.
Enquiries about Mondino’s non-attendance at the G7 summit had not been answered by the Presidency at the time of writing.
– TIMES/NA
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