MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Milei now hopes May Pact will be signed on July 9

After his speech in Rosario, the South American leader will embark on yet another European tour

Argentine President Javier Milei Thursday relaunched his so-called May Pact initiative during the Flag Day celebrations in Rosario. The agreement between the federal government and the provincial Executives was to have been signed on the May 25 National Holiday; hence its name.

This time around, the Libertarian leader set July 9 Independence Day as the new target date for what he believes to be a political achievement that would trigger the country's economic recovery, for which he summoned former presidents, governors, Court judges, businessmen, and trade unionists whom he urged to put their “partisan blinders aside.”

“I want to take advantage of this day with the Argentine flag flying in the sky, with the approval of the Bases Law and the fiscal package already passed, to call for us to meet on the night of July 9 in Tucumán to sign the May Pact and finally start together to turn the page of our history,” Milei said while inviting everyone involved “to achieve the dream of a prosperous and free Argentina.”

”When [General Manuel] Belgrano wrote to the Triumvirate so that they would recognize the flag (...) the political leadership in Buenos Aires still did not speak of independence, they spoke of an autonomous government; they wanted to take care of the forms, as some still like to do today, still guided by fear, because they did not dare to be free. Others because they directly wanted to remain subjects,“ Milei elaborated.

”Belgrano did not wait for anyone's orders“ and pointed out: ”He was a maximalist of freedom, there were no buts. Freedom does not ask for permission, freedom imposes itself, it does not wait for orders from any bureaucrat,“ the President went on while longing for ”a world in which the Argentine flag flies high in the sky.“

”The May Pact was born to be in May but we can wait until June or July,“ Cabinet Chief Guillermo Francos explained earlier this week. ”If you ask me, I would do it on July 9, in Tucumán, on Independence Day. I believe that with these laws we have become independent from a group that has generated an impact on the economy and society during the last 20 years that we want to leave behind,“ he added.

Francos also admitted Tucumán Governor Osvaldo Jaldo had ”worked side by side, despite being of a different political sign, to build a different Argentina for the future.” This week, former three-time Tucumán Governor José Alperovich was sentenced to 16 years in jail for repeatedly raping his niece and secretary while serving as a national Senator.

Alperovich's imprisonment somehow marked an end to the Kirchners stronghold of the Peronist Party and its successive such as Frente para la Victoria or Unión por la Patria among others. Alperovich and his wife and former Senate Provisional Speaker Beatriz Rokjés were very close to Néstor and Cristina Kirchner.

After a few hours in Rosario, Milei returned to Buenos Aires to board the ARG-01 presidential aircraft on yet another European tour starting in Madrid and featuring stops in Germany and the Czech Republic.

In the Spanish capital, Milei is to be welcomed by local leader Isabel Díaz Ayuso, after which he will be granted a distinction from the Juan de Mariana Institute for his achievements as a Libertarian. On Saturday he will be given a prize by the Hamburg-based Hayek Foundation and on Sunday he will go to Berlin for a meeting with Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

On Monday, he will travel to the Czech Republic to meet with Czech businessmen in Prague and also with Prime Minister Petr Fiala and President Petr Pavel, in addition to getting an award from the Czech Liberal Institute.

Milei's trip will be shadowed by a recent diplomatic standoff with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's administration after the Argentine head of state brought up in his previous appearance in Madrid the head of government's wife's involvement in a corruption scandal, which resulted in the withdrawal of the Spanish Ambassador from Buenos Aires.