BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Given the choice between a far-right convention to bash his enemies and a presidential summit to discuss regional trade policy, Argentine President Javier Milei preferred the stadium packed with cheering fans.
The libertarian leader was in Brazil on Sunday, preparing to headline the country’s version of CPAC, the conservative political action conference, alongside former President Javier Bolsonaro in Brazil’s southern city of Balneario Camboriu.
In skipping the Mercosur trade bloc summit in Paraguay and sidling up to Bolsonaro just days after federal police indicted the right-wing populist in a scheme to embezzle Saudi diamonds, Milei delivered another harsh rebuke to Brazil’s left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, escalating a risky feud with his country’s biggest trading partner.
It was the latest example of Milei’s provocative foreign policy, courting the global spotlight through friendships with hard-right allies rather than following diplomatic convention.
Anyone noticed how Milei is constantly seeking beef with other countries? It’s almost like he wants Argentinians to get lost on diplomacy theatrics so that they don’t discuss their own situation.