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The president of Argentina, Javier Milei, will travel to Spain next weekend for VOX’s (ECR) political and cultural festival, VIVA.
Milei is set to give a speech on Sunday, May 19 in front of an audience of more than 10 thousand at the historic Palacio Vistalegre Arena in Madrid.
Other relevant political actors who have spoken at the VIVA include U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, or the former Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki.
This will not be Milei’s first time in the festival. He gave a rousing speech in the 2022 VIVA where he outlined his economic doctrine (which he is now applying in Argentina) and called upon the audience to fight “el zurderío” (the leftists).
Milei argued in favour the moral, economic, and aesthetic superiority of freedom as opposed to the morally decadent precepts of socialism and communism, which still have a large presence across the Americas and Spain.
Spain is, in fact, the only country in the European Union to have communists among its Council of Ministers.
These ideological differences have been the cause of more than one diplomatic spat between Spain and Argentina.
In early May, the Spanish Minister of Transportation suggested at a public gathering with Socialist constituents that President Milei consumed “substances.”
This elicited a response from the office of Milei where he denounced the allegations and hit back saying Pedro Sánchez’s government should be more concerned with the investigations currently levied against the Prime Minister’s wife in a Madrid Court over alleged influence peddling.
Santiago Abascal, the president of VOX, was one of the first major politicians in Spain to call out Puente’s comments. He defended the Argentinian president and said Puente’s insinuations were “extremely severe.”
Milei has become one of Santiago Abascal’s main allies in the international arena. The VOX president has called him “a friend” several times. This is in no small part thanks to the job of VOX’s think tank Fundación Disenso.
Disenso has been the key to unlocking a set of international alliances spanning over 20 countries. Their work has been fundamental in nurturing the Abascal-Milei friendship, as well as putting Abascal as the main Spanish-speaking leader of the Conservative world.
In the last six months Abascal has carried out an intense international agenda that has included a visit to Buenos Aires to the inauguration of Milei, a trip to Italy where he spoke at Fratelli D’Italia’s (ECR) Atreju, a high-level mission to Israel, and a visit to Washington D.C. in February where he spoke at the Main Hall of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
In addition to maintaining these international relations, Disenso is an instrumental source of information for the party. In November 2023, they prepared a comprehensive report that argued against the proposed amnesty law that is set to pardon convicted Catalan separatists, including the fugitive Carles Puigdemont, who intends to return to Spain soon. VOX gave Disenso’s report to all 705 MEPs.
Both Milei, and his Vice President, Victoria Villarruel, are some of the first signatories of the ‘Madrid Charter,’ a series of commitments outlined by Disenso’s Foro Madrid, an international coalition of political parties, civil society organizations, and parliamentarians that fight for the defence of freedom, democracy, and the rule of law in Europe and Latin America.
Javier Milei has marked a turning point in Argentinian politics. The libertarian’s unconventional style has charmed a large and loyal constituency, as a well as an international fan base—especially in countries in the Americas like Colombia and Chile—who are currently governed by Socialist countries.
Since his inauguration in December 2023, the public administration in Argentina has registered three consecutive surpluses. Milei is consistently delivering in its promises of slashing ideological institutions that add little value to the citizens.