The president of United States, Joe Bidenexpressed his support for Javier Milei, after winning the elections in Argentina, and expressed his confidence that the second largest economy in South America can find a way out of its current crisis.
Both leaders held a telephone conversation this Wednesday, November 22, according to a senior Biden administration official who asked not to be identified without permission to speak publicly. The White House and a senior adviser to Milei confirmed the call. The US president emphasized areas of collaboration and said that I expected more commitmentssaid the official.
Milei, a libertarian outsider who won with the promise of take radical measures to fix the economy struggling Argentina, won the election with 56 percent of the vote. The two men did not go into details about the 43 billion dollar loan of the International Monetary Fund to Argentina or Milei’s proposals to dollarize the nation and close the central bank, the US official said.
Milei’s foreign policy adviser, Diana Mondino, described the conversation as “very friendly” and told reporters, in Buenos Aires, that the two leaders discussed the agreement brokered by Qatar to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, as well as food and energy issues.
Joe Biden said Milei applauded the hostage deal, while Biden told him there is still a long way to go regarding the conflict in Israel and Gaza. The president-elect has pledged to focus his foreign policy on deepening diplomatic ties with the US and Israel, and signaled that he would cool relations with China, although he would allow bilateral trade.
Milei also spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who thanked him for his support, the European leader said in a post on X.
Milei seeks to implement shock measures from his first days in power to stabilize an economy hit by 143 percent inflation, a chronic lack of international financing and ato expected monetary devaluation.
“Argentina is a fantastic partner in the region. And there are many things that we share in terms of values: the value of democracy, human rights and hemispheric security and economic concerns that we hope to work on with him and his team,” said the spokesman for the National Security Council of the United States. United, John Kirby.
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan congratulated Milei on X following his victory on Sunday.
“We look forward to building on our strong bilateral relationship based on our shared commitment to human rights, democratic values and transparency,” Sullivan wrote.
