MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Milei's words in Spain trigger new diplomatic conflict

Spain wants an apology that is not going to happen, according to Spokesman Adorni

Argentine President Javier Milei insisted on questioning Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's wife's clear sheet and triggered yet another diplomatic controversy for the South American country since he took office on Dec. 10, 2023.

Milei is already at odds with Presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and China's Xi Jinping, which jeopardizes Argentina's links to three major business partners. In addition, the Libertarian leader's remarks were made at the Viva 24 summit of rightwing parties in Madrid hosted by the local Vox.

“Socialism hides the worst of the human being which is envy, hatred, resentment, and if necessary murder. Never forget that the damned socialists murdered 150 million human beings,” stressed Milei as he warned that embracing socialism was “opening the door to death.”

“I am convinced that today more than ever that these ideas and values that brought the human species to the top are in danger and need to be defended from the siege of the damned and cancerous socialism,” he added.

“Socialism is an ideology that goes directly against human nature, it necessarily derives in slavery or death, there is no other possible destiny, to open the door to socialism is to invite death. But while all this is obvious, today it is more important than ever to point it out because in recent decades the global elites have unfortunately been captivated by socialist siren songs,” he went on. “Enough of socialism, enough of hunger, enough of misery!”

It has been “five months since I took office and we are fulfilling to the letter the promise we made to the Argentines: we have reduced inflation month by month, we have lowered the interest rate, we have made the biggest adjustment in history and to the horror of the leftists, people continue to support us,” Milei also argued. “Let's go back to defending the values that made the West great. Let us go back to defending life, liberty, and property.”

Milei also pointed out that Ludwig von Mises noted in 1922 that socialism was as much an alternative to capitalism as potassium cyanide was an alternative to water.

The Argentine President also recalled the judiciary investigation involving Sánchez's wife Begoña Gómez for alleged influence peddling without mentioning either by name. He did say that those supporting socialism included someone who took 5 days to consider resigning after his wife was apparently “corrupt,” which does fit Sánchez''s history. “What a class of people screwed to power. Even when he has the corrupt wife, he gets dirty and takes five days to think about it,” Milei said.

“Socialism, whenever it has been tried, not only in Argentina but in the whole world, has been a failure economically, it has been a failure socially, a failure culturally. It has been a tax on piles and piles of corpses,” he elaborated.

In this scenario, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said he had summoned Spain's Ambassador to Buenos Aires for consultations after Milei's “extremely serious” and “unprecedented words in the history of international relations” that “go beyond any kind of political issue.” Albares also underlined the “ties of brotherhood” between the peoples of Spain and Argentina.

Milei “was received in good faith for an act of the ultra-right, he was treated with respect and public resources necessary for his stay were made available,” Albares explained. “To this, he responded with a frontal attack on our democracy, our institutions, and Spain.” In his view, Milei's statements were “unacceptable” and therefore the Spanish would demand a public apology. In the meantime, Spain “will take all the measures deemed appropriate.”

Albares also noted that he had been supported by local politicians as well as by European Union Foreign Affairs Commissioner Josep Borrell. “Political freedom, prosperity, social cohesion based on fiscal redistribution, and respect in public debate are pillars of the EU. Attacks against relatives of political leaders have no place in our culture: we condemn and reject them, especially when they come from partners,” Borrell said on social networks.

However, Spain was the one to throw the first stone in the verbal clash about a fortnight ago when Transport Minister Óscar Puente said Milei was “ingesting substances.”

Hence, there will be no apologies from Buenos Aires. “The president does not have to apologize. In fact, we would be very pleased if the Spanish government would indeed apologize to the President for all the mistreatment, abuse, and insults he has received in the last 15 days,” Presidential Spokesman Manuel Adorni said in a TV interview. After all, President Milei was saying “what actually happened with Sánchez's wife,” he added.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Guillermo Francos said “Pedro Sánchez should apologize” instead “for the things they have said about the president.” In Francos' view, the Spanish government has overreacted but Milei “doesn't feel he has to make any apology so they can rest assured that it is not going to happen.”

“It would be ridiculous for a Spanish government to decide to interrupt its diplomatic relations with Argentina. For me it does not make any sense, in any case, it is a cross between two presidents who do not like each other,” he went on. “Breaking off relations between Spain and Argentina seems to me to make no sense at all,” he also said.