President Javier Milei has defended his U-turn on relations with the Chinese government, which he once branded as “communist assassins,” in a feature-length interview with UK magazine The Economist.
Describing ties with Beijing as “excellent,” Milei praised China as a great trade partner whose economy is complementary to Argentina’s. He said that while his alignment is with the United States and Israel, trade is carried out between people, not by governments.
He described China as “a fabulous partner” that doesn't “ask for anything in return.”
“All they ask is that you don’t disturb them. It’s fabulous,” the head of state said in the interview.
Milei, who said he did not intend to quit the Paris climate accords but argued Argentina had “no problem” with carbon emissions, also outlined his approach to politics, saying he had learnt a lot in his first year in office.
“I learned a lot about doing politics. I learned a lot from politics. And let’s say politics is not a vacuum, you have to interact with other players,” said the President.
“We work with dynamic games when we make decisions. That is to say. If you leave them reflected in decision-making trees, you can see that you can present the games in a matrix or extensive way and we make decisions like that,” he continued.
“We use the principle of revelation a lot to confront the strategy towards society, to leave our rivals exposed,” he explained.
Describing himself as an “outsider” and “mole within the state” who is enjoying “the best 10 years of my life,” Milei said his economic reforms are “bearing fruit.”
Trump ties
Opening up on his relationship with US president-elect Donald Trump, Milei praised his “very good relationship with the main figures in his cabinet” and his “excellent” personal bond with the Republican leader.
“The truth is that he has been very generous with me,” said Argentina’s leader.
Complaining that US President Joe Biden’s administration “did not even pick up the phone to my ambassador, who today is my foreign minister,” Milei said it is clear that “the relationship is much deeper and we are going to be able to move forward without a doubt in terms of trade ties and financial ties.”
Stating that “the Argentine case” of his administration is an example for the rest of the world, Milei said billionaire Elon Musk is “actively following” the events of his administration and revealed that the Tesla and SpaceX boss and US politician Vivek Ramaswamy, who will head Trump’s new department of “government efficiency” are in contact with officials from Argentina’s government.
Milei also claimed that Japan is already “applying” his model now in its own nation.
Quizzed about Argentina’s relationship with the International Monetary Fund, Milei said that the arrival of Trump to the White House will “absolutely” change things.
“You can see it in the behaviour of some of the Fund’s officials who used to be harsh. Now they are very docile,” claimed the La Libertad Avanza leader bullishly.
Asked about an update on the bid to secure fresh funding from the IMF, Milei confirmed the push was related to his desire to remove Argentina’s complex web of currency controls, known locally as the ‘cepo.’
“Let’s see what the conditions are. We’re not in a hurry. The faster we can get out, the better. But we are not going to commit recklessness to accelerate the exit. I mean, if I get the funds, I leave [the capital controls]. If I don’t get them, I am designing all the conditions to be able to leave even if I don’t get the money,” he said.
The ‘caste’ and Lijo
Milei, 53, also found time to lash out at one of his favoured enemies: the media and “paid off” journalists who are “functional to the caste.”
“I suffer lies every day. The ridicule and the lies that the media manage to tell are truly flagrant. In fact, I have even been branded as a Nazi. You read the media in Argentina and 85 percent of what you find is a lie,” he told the magazine.
“The criticism I get from domestic journalism is a consequence of the fact that I cut their advertising, the official advertising. It is not a neutral criticism. If you want, we can discuss what freedom of speech is. For me, freedom of expression means that you can say whatever you want, whatever you want. And here, everybody says whatever they want. So, where is the problem?” said Milei.
The President went on to clash with the interviewer in an exchange over socialism, “cultural Marxism” and climate change.
“I don’t think positive discrimination is right,” said Milei, who doubted the impact of global warming and described the “LGBT and abortion agenda” of being part of a Marxist approach of “man against nature.”
In one of the most revealing exchanges, Argentina’s President also opened up on the much-criticised nomination of Federal Judge Ariel Lijo for a Supreme Court vacancy.
“When you make an appointment, everyone is going to find things [problems],” said Milei. “Lijo is one of the few people who understands the operational functioning of the judiciary. He is someone who can carry out reforms from the inside.”
He also argued that Lijo is the “only” judicial specialist in cases involving “the most complicated crimes in the world, which are drug trafficking and narcoterrorism.”
– TIMES
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