Voz media US Voz.us

Who will attend Javier Milei's inauguration? Those confirmed and those who declined the invitation

Joe Biden will send Jennifer Granholm, Andrew E. Light, Carlos Monje and Juan González.

Javier Milei

Cordon Press

Published by

will soon become Argentina's next president. The 53-year-old economist will be inaugurated on Sunday, December 10, a day that will begin at the Congress and end at the historic Colon Theater. Alberto Fernández, the current Peronist president, will present him with the presidential attributes before a large entourage.

Within the latter group, members of both legislative chambers, governors and 40 international delegations, made up of heads of state and representatives of embassies and international organizations, stand out.

From Milei's personal friends to envoys of leaders who are not very close to his ideas and values, these are the international envoys who will witness the first words of Argentina's new president.

Those confirmed to attend Milei's inauguration

According to the future Chancellor Diana Mondino, the invitations were sent from the presidency, although she laughingly confessed that the closest ones are being "called by WhatsApp."

Most of his colleagues from the region will be present, such as Presidents Luis Lacalle Pou (Uruguay), Santiago Peña (Paraguay), Daniel Novoa (Ecuador) and Gabriel Boric (Chile), who is not politically close to Milei.

As for Brazil, Argentina's largest trading partner, Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, will travel since President Lula da Silva declined the invitation to attend. During the campaign, Milei described the Brazilian leader as "communist and corrupt."

Jair Bolsonaro, da Silva's predecessor and Milei's friend, will be there. He will attend with his son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, who serves as a national deputy in his country.

Joe Biden confirmed to Milei that he could not attend due to prior commitments, so he will have other envoys at the ceremony. Jennifer Granholm, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy, will be accompanied by Carlos Monje, Under Secretary of Transportation for Policy and Andrew E. Light, Assistant Secretary of Energy for International Affairs. Juan Gonzalez, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for the Western Hemisphere at the National Security Council, will join them.

From a little further afield, Eli Cohen (chancellor of Israel), Viktor Orban (prime minister of Hungary), Khachaturyan Vahagn (president of Armenia) and MEP Hermann Tertsch will be present. They will be joined by David Rutley (minister in charge of the Americas and with the rank of vice-chancellor), King Felipe VI (Spain) and Santiago Abascal, a friend of Milei and president of Vox, the third force in Spanish politics. It has not yet been confirmed who Pedro Sánchez's envoy will be for the inauguration.

Volodomir Zelensky, president of Ukraine, has also confirmed his presence and will take the opportunity to hold meetings with other leaders in Buenos Aires.

South Korea's Minister of Coordination, Kisun Bang, and the Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, Weihua Wu, confirmed their presence.

Those who are not traveling

Milei did not directly invite Nicolás Maduro (Venezuela), Daniel Ortega (Nicaragua) and Miguel Díaz-Canel (Cuba), marking a break with the international alliances of the government of Alberto Fernández and Cristina Kirchner, who rightly saw these regimes as allies. As for Ortega, he directly ordered the closing of the Nicaraguan Embassy in Argentina.

In turn, the President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who recently compared the Argentinean president to Adolf Hitler, will not attend either.

Luis Arce (Bolivia) and Gustavo Petro (Colombia), both left-leaning, have not confirmed their attendance and are expected to send delegates.

Nayib Bukele, president of El Salvador, declined the invitation because he will be running for reelection, so he will send his Minister of Justice and Public Security, Hector Villatoro.

Donald Trump?

While Trump would travel to Argentina to meet with Milei, it will not be for the libertarian's inauguration as president. While there is a belief that "anything can happen," the Republican is not expected to be present on Sunday, December 10.

After his victory, Trump publicly congratulated the Milei, and they even spoke on the phone.

"Congratulations to Javier Milei for a great election as president of Argentina. The whole world was watching you! I am so proud of you. You will turn your country around and make Argentina great again!" Trump posted on his social media.

tracking