November 30, 2023 - 7:00am
To this day, Bernard Lewis’s quip on the United States in the Middle East still rings true: “America is harmless as an enemy but treacherous as a friend.” In light of the recent visit of Argentinian president-elect Javier Milei to Washington, the question arising from Lewis’s observation also applies to Latin America.
While the usual suspects in the media are spinning into overdrive about the supposedly far-Right and Trump-admiring Milei, he also happens to be the most unapologetically pro-American and pro-Western politician to emerge from South America in decades. Although Milei did not meet President Biden in person, he did have appointments with some of his senior aides including National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and lunch with former US president Bill Clinton.
Given the significant sway the Clintons still have within the Democrat Party, the latter was a shrewd strategic move by the new leader of Argentina. It is unlikely that the anarcho-capitalist and former economist is a particular fan of either Clinton or Biden, but he knows who is currently in charge in Washington.
Milei was carried into office on a wave of enthusiasm in a country with significant problems in both its economy and social structure. Not only is Argentina the largest debtor nation to the International Monetary Fund, it also has an inflation rate closing in on 150%, with 40% of the population living in poverty and a possible recession on the horizon. Milei will need strong international allies to turn the ship around, especially since expectations are incredibly high. If he cannot produce some early successes, the tide of public opinion might turn against him very quickly.
There are, however, also good reasons for Washington to see Milei endure. Whatever eccentricities Milei has demonstrated during his campaign, from promising to abolish Argentina’s Central Bank (a pledge he renewed after his election) to replacing the Argentine Peso with the US Dollar (a pledge he has moved away from), having a staunch ally in South America’s second largest country after Brazil should be greeted with enthusiasm in the US.
After the diplomatic blunder of supporting the anti-Western Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil, one can only hope that the Biden administration has learned its lesson. Shortly after Lula took office, he accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of being co-responsible for the Russian invasion, while simultaneously promoting closer relations to the other Brics members, including a push for ending the global dominance of the US Dollar.
Milei, on the other hand, promises to overhaul the entire foreign policy of Argentina, including the abandonment of any ambition to join Brics or create a new Latin American currency with Brazil. At a time of heightened geopolitical tensions, the US should welcome Argentina’s aspirations of closer ties to it and becoming a bulwark against China and Russia in Latin America.
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SubscribeThe question is whether Javier Milei’s Argentina will find an ally in Biden’s US. And given the US’s track record of supporting its enemies, and betraying its friends, that seems unlikely.
People like Milei don’t have mature aspirations, they have impulsive chaotic reactions. I’m sure the US understands this very well.
You have no idea what you are talking about. I go to Argentina frequently and people, well those not bought and paid for by the Kirchneristas and Peronists, are desperate for change. They saw how Macri was repeatedly stopped from dealing with the rot and then when Cretina got in again she appointed loads of judges to bamboozle the legal system. It’s all going to be undone and her thievery dealt with. Her chauffeur ended up a billionaire; how?
You have no idea of what I know. I’m sure Argentinian people are desperate for change, but we also know that this desperation can lead to a leap into the type of populism that wants to rip up the established order and makes wild, undeliverable promises. This happens again and again, and usually ends badly.
Usually ends badly? Helped downhill. from time to time, by the old gangsters and their stooges.
Gangsters old and new
Thats because Cretina and her mob always cheat to win by bribing and bussing in people for her protests and votes. Under Macri there was masses of change but it was all undone quickly. The only option is to take a chainsaw to the multiple layers of corruption embedded in the state and its many many many ministries packed to the gills with people that don’t actually exist to work but to claim salaries for doing nothing. Absolutely nothing.
There have been six military coups in Argentina during last century, all of them used your argument for their legitimacy. I know this isn’t a coup but the ‘taking a chainsaw’ language is the same, and leads to the destruction of the checks and balances of a mature moderate state. I realise the last government wasn’t a good one but populist hyperbole won’t cut it, nor will his policies. Argentina deserves something better than a wildly swinging political pendulum.
That is rather amusing
“People – except the ones who disagree with me”. Classic! But perhaps Milei will prove a better leader – we will see.