Milei heads to US as next Argentine leader

Leftists demonstrate against incoming President Javier Milei and his plans to reform the economy, in Buenos Aires on November 23, 2023; Milei was on his way to the United States – Copyright AFP MOHD RASFAN

Argentina’s president-elect Javier Milei was traveling Sunday to the United States to meet with US and international officials over two days.

The far-right economist will arrive in New York on a private visit Monday.

“Heading to the United States. Long live freedom, dammit!” Milei posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Milei will hold “protocol meetings to explain the economic plan: fiscal adjustment, monetary reform, state reform and deregulation,” a spokesman for the president-elect told AFP.

“It is not about seeking financing,” he emphasized.

Milei will travel on to Washington later Monday, where he will meet with Juan Gonzalez, the National Security Council senior director for Western Hemisphere affairs, diplomatic sources told AFP, on condition of anonymity.

Milei’s agenda through Tuesday also includes conversations with Treasury Department officials and functionaries for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, the sources said.

Milei will arrive with several members of his team, including Luis Caputo, an advisor on financial matters who is seen as a likely cabinet member. 

On Friday, the future president held a first remote chat from Buenos Aires with the managing director of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva.

Buenos Aires has a $44 billion debt to the IMF, negotiated in 2018 by then-president Mauricio Macri, now Milei’s main ally.

Milei will assume Argentina’s presidency on December 10, succeeding Peronist Alberto Fernandez.

Also on Sunday, it was announced that Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been invited to Milei’s inauguration.