President Javier Milei embraced controversy on Thursday while addressing a right-wing gathering in the Chilean capital of Santiago Thursday, vindicating the illegal overthrow of a democratically elected head of state some five decades ago.
In a speech to the ‘Foro de Madrid’ event in Buenos Aires, Milei backed the controversial overthrow of Chile’s late former president, who was ousted in a coup in 1973, before going to verbally attack and abuse current Spanish premier Pedro Sánchez.
During Thursday's event, which was organised by the Spanish far-right party Vox, Milei described the Spanish PM – who he dubbed "Pedrito" – as being "dirtier than a potato." He also accused him of facilitating "out of control" immigration and "degenerating" the Spanish identity for another.
"Unfortunately Europe, the cradle of our civilisation, is being governed by bureaucrats bent on destroying who we are," insisted Milei.
Sánchez "and the all riffraff surrounding him were right to take offence when I told him that his was a government of thieves and the facts seem to confirm that," alleged the President.
‘Our model works’
The La Libertad Avanza leader then defended his economic programme, saying that he would not succumb to "political pressures."
“If we analyse with minimum honesty and compare ourselves to previous governments, it becomes clear that our model never worked,” he said, affirming: “It’s clear that our model works and that we are on the right path.”
During his speech Milei again attacked Argentine journalists, pointing out: “It’s curious because sometimes when you switch on the television in Argentina, it would seem that everything is going wrong.”
He then urged attendees to organise and push an "international alliance of the ideas of liberty."
In another passage of his speech, the President highlighted the "change of course" in the region and dismissed the opposition as "dirty leftists."
"Today the entire continent is steering towards the values which made the West great, even after decades of socialist indoctrination,” the libertarian continued, before concluding by vindicating the overthrow of President Salvador Allende in 1973.
"Chile is an emblematic place because its recent history reminds us of the immense value of fighting the cultural battle after the overthrow of the Communist Allende. A period of stability and growth started, lasting for over 40 years and it was without doubt the envy of the entire region in economic terms," he concluded.
Kast meeting
Milei also met with his Chilean counterpart José Antonio Kast at the Palacio de la Moneda, the neighbouring country’s government house, where they discussed issues of bilateral interest, including strategic cooperation, political agreements and stronger economic and regional integration.
The meeting – the fourth between Milei and Kast – was held amid the controversy over the Strait of Magellan arising from recent statements of the Argentine Air Force chief-of-staff Gustavo Valverde indicating that the zone and the Drake Passage represent a sovereignty issue for Argentina as the “bi-oceanic Atlantic-Pacific key” where it is necessary “to have a presence.”
Against these affirmations, Chilean Foreign Minister Francisco Pérez Mackenna made it clear that "the Strait of Magellan is indisputably Chilean."
Prior to his encounter with Kast, Milei met up with Sarah Rogers, the undersecretary for Public Diplomacy at the State Department in the United States. The meeting took place after US President Donald Trump’s statements on the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands.
Trump’s statements were reportedly one of the central topics in their talk. The White House chief asserted that Washington "is revising all its stances" regarding the conflict between Argentina and the United Kingdom over Malvinas sovereignty.
– TIMES/NA
