Javier Miley anticipates Argentina’s shift toward the United States with a visit to the White House

Argentine President-elect Javier Miley explained his economic program to US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in a meeting that lasted about an hour in the Eisenhower Executive Building of the White House on Tuesday. According to the new president, he also presented to senior US officials Argentina’s “new framework” of “countries that respect freedom.” The meeting was also attended by President Joe Biden’s Latin America Advisor Juan Gonzalez and Under Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols.

In a message on social media, accompanied by a photo with his team of advisors who attended the meeting, Ultra Miley described the event as an “excellent meeting.” “We talked about the economic and social situation in Argentina at this moment,” he told the media in brief statements after leaving the presidential residence in Washington and shortly before setting off on his return trip to Buenos Aires.

The budding president was accompanied by his sister and right-hand woman, Karina Miley; Future Chief of Staff, Nicolas Bossi; businessman Gerardo Verthen, a personal friend of Bill Clinton and rumored to be the next Argentine ambassador to Washington; Macrista’s former finance minister and potential economy minister in the new government, Luis Caputo, and communications strategist Santiago Caputo. The US Ambassador to Buenos Aires, Mark Stanley, was also present.

A statement from the president-elect’s office said that Milley “expressed during the meeting his point of view on the international geopolitical agenda allied with the West and his defense of the values ​​of freedom.” For his part, Sullivan expressed “the readiness of the United States to cooperate in the transitional phase of the next Argentine government in the face of the difficult political, economic and social situation that the country is going through,” according to the Argentine version of the report. interview.

Initially, it was planned that the winner of the Argentine elections, after defeating Peronist Sergio Massa ten days ago, would meet with officials from the International Monetary Fund during his visit to Washington, although in the end only his economic advisors were present. That meeting. Miley actually held a video meeting last Friday with International Monetary Fund Director Kristalina Georgieva. Argentina received a large loan worth $44 billion from this organization in 2018, but was unable to repay it in time even after renegotiating the terms.

Before the meeting, the White House had already announced its desire to hear from the leader of La Libertad Avanza about his economic and political government program. “Argentina is a dynamic partner on this continent on many issues. del Consejo de Seguridad Nacional, John Kirby, al confirmar la meeting.

While in New York, Miley had lunch with Democratic Senator Chris Dodd and former US President Bill Clinton. His first act in the Big Apple was to visit the grave of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, known as the “Lubavitch Rebbe.” It is a holy place for Judaism, and Miley had previously visited to ask for his blessing for his election as president of Argentina.

This visit to Washington and New York is the first undertaken by the Argentine president-elect after his electoral victory, and provides a clear indication of the foreign policy priorities of the new government. Miley insisted throughout his election campaign that his main allies would be the United States and Israel. He also promised to distance himself from China, his country’s main trading partner and with which Alberto Fernández’s government has maintained excellent relations. Among other things, he rejected the possibility of the Southern Cone country joining the BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), which was favored by his predecessor.

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