Milei decided not to participate in the Mercosur Summit

by María Josefina Arce

The president of Argentina, Javier Milei, continues to be the talk of the town. The ultra-liberal president, as he defines himself, decided not to participate in Asuncion, Paraguay, in the recently celebrated Sixty-fourth Summit of Heads of State of the Southern Common Market, of which his country is a member.

Instead, Milei preferred to travel this weekend to Brazil to attend the so-called Conservative Action Political Conference, a meeting of the extreme right, which was inaugurated by former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

The Argentine head of state chose to share with Bolsonaro, who in recent days was indicted by the federal police for money laundering and appropriation of public property, in a case involving undeclared jewelry.

Although Buenos Aires was represented by its Chancellor Diana Mondino, the notorious absence of Milei from the meeting at the highest level of MERCOSUR sends a message about his real interests, which are clearly not to work together with the region for the welfare of its inhabitants. 

At a time when Argentines are experiencing a complex situation due to the economic measures taken by the government of Javier Milei, which have led to an increase in poverty, inequality and unemployment, the president is putting his ideological position first, ignoring the benefits for his country of being part of this integrationist mechanism.

But let us not forget that during his election campaign he had already put forward the idea of eliminating MERCOSUR, which is impracticable since no president of a state party has that power, but which gives much food for thought.

Criticism of his absence was not long in coming. Lawmakers from PARLASUR, the MERCOSUR parliament, described the Argentine head of state's position as disrespectful to the regional bloc.

Uruguayan Daniel Caggiani, a senator for the Frente Amplio and a member of PARLACEN, said that presidential diplomacy should be used for the benefit of nations and not to deepen existing controversies.

Milei, who has already made several mistakes in foreign policy, does not seem to have realized that he will be in charge of Argentina's destiny for four years and that he must therefore devote all his energy to working for the country's progress and well-being.