Argentina’s recent series of drastic decisions at UN meetings may be significant, but are they really all that shocking?
Luca Rampersad | News Contributor
Nearly a year into his term as President of Argentina, Javier Milei has already left an indelible mark on Argentine politics. A libertarian economist in his past life, Milei rode to the presidency on a far-right agenda to institute sweeping free-market reforms and deregulation, take a “chainsaw” to government agencies, and alleviate the country’s decades-long economic rut.
Putting the efficacy of his domestic policy aside, it is clear that Milei represents a rejection of the political establishment—which in recent decades has been dominated by factional elements of a single party, the Justicialists. Now, in his first full suite of annual multilateral and international meetings, Milei is staging a similar revolt on the global stage with a series of headline-grabbing decisions at the United Nations. From COP29 to the UN General Assembly, from sudden sackings to unprecedented oppositions, Argentina’s new tack in international summitry is a severe departure from the norm. However, it should not be surprising to anyone familiar with his thoughts on the UN, or with the way he has shaped his administration at home.
Dismissing Diana Mondino
On October 30th, President Milei suddenly dismissed Minister of Foreign Affairs Diana Mondino. A day-one cabinet pick, Argentina’s top diplomat has played a pronounced role in mending fences with state allies whose administrations Milei has often harshly admonished.
Already fading into the background of Argentina’s diplomatic leadership behind Milei’s sister and chief-of-staff Karina Milei, it was Mondino’s symbolic vote at the United Nations’ General Assembly that cost her. Every year since 1992, the UN General Assembly votes on whether or not to issue a non-binding call for the United States to lift its decades-long economic embargo on Cuba. As is custom for Argentina—and the vast majority of UN member states, as this resolution has never failed to pass in regular order—its delegation voted to lift the embargo on October 30th, countering Milei’s orders. That same day, Milei fired Mondino and pledged to conduct a full ideological audit of the Foreign Ministry.
Argentina’s new foreign minister, Gerardo Werthein, solidifies Buenos Aires’ new anti-communist hawkish strategy on the global stage. Mondino was a relatively moderating force in Argentine foreign policy, seeking to mend relations following Milei’s often profanity-laden tirades against foreign governments. After repeatedly referring to President Lula da Silva’s government in Brazil as “communist,” for instance, Mondino went on a diplomatic visit to rebuild ties with Argentina’s neighbour and historic major trading partner. Meanwhile Werthein, the former Argentine ambassador to the United States, has pledged upon appointment to cooperate with and advance Milei’s pro-U.S. and pro-Israel realignment policies.
Withdrawing from COP29
Just over a week later, when the 29th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) met in Baku, there was already an uneasiness amongst world leaders due to climate-skeptic Donald Trump’s re-election as U.S. President. However, on November 11th—just the third of 11 scheduled days of proceedings—Milei claimed the headlines for himself by withdrawing all Argentine officials from negotiations.
Explanations from the Milei administration were brief. Speaking to the media, Environment Undersecretary Ana Lamas remained tight-lipped about the reasons behind this departure, and whether or not this action also implies Argentina’s intent to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accords.
However, this action does align closely with Milei’s history of climate denialism. Undersecretary Lamas, who is not a Minister nor Cabinet member, is the highest-ranking environment official of any sort in the Argentine government. President Milei dissolved what was once the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, established in 2015 under the free-market conservative administration of Mauricio Macri, in his first presidential decree upon his inauguration on December 10, 2023. Milei has also claimed that climate change is a “socialist lie” peddled by politicians who are “looking to raise money to finance socialist bums who write fourth-rate newspapers.” Recent reports indicating that Buenos Aires is “re-evaluating” its climate policies under new Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein contribute to growing speculation that Milei will renege on his initial pledge not to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accords. As Donald Trump once again comes to power in the United States, almost guaranteeing a second U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, Milei’s U.S.-aligned foreign policy provides another institutional incentive to follow suit.
At SOCHUM, Divergence on Two Fronts
Argentina’s most recent, and perhaps most shocking, move at the UN is doubly surprising because it was not in line with Milei’s aggressive pro-West shift. In the United Nations’ Social, Cultural and Humanitarian Committee on November 14th, Argentina was the sole vote against a resolution that seeks to combat violence against women and girls, putting it at odds with the United States, Israel and their allies which voted for the resolution. While Argentina’s UN representative argued that language in the resolution would infringe upon freedom of expression, Argentina was the only state to take the additional step of actively opposing the resolution—13 other states merely abstained.
If Milei’s realignment policies do not explain this vote, his domestic policies offer some insight. As part of his sweeping day-one decrees to restructure the federal government, Milei rid his administration of the Women, Genders and Diversity Ministry developed in 2019 under the Alberto Fernandez administration. The ministry formerly responsible for promoting the well-being of women and girls and improving LGBTQ+ rights in Argentina, according to Milei, conferred “privilege” on these groups and ran counter to equality under the law. Initially demoted from the Cabinet to an undersecretariat similar in form to the Environment Undersecretariat, Milei took the further step of abolishing that post and imputing its duties to the Justice Ministry in June 2024. At present, no high-level agency for the protection of gender and sexual diversity exists in Argentina.
Is More to Come?
Milei’s own statements before the General Assembly indicate that Buenos Aires’ distancing from the international community is far from over. Milei is not shy about his suspicion towards many of the UN’s current activities and high-level initiatives. In his first address before the General Assembly on September 24, 2024, he described the UN as a Hobbesian “Leviathan” that promotes “collectivist” policies and articulated his opposition to the UN’s Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals. The decisions Milei has made in the wake of these pronouncements, including the institution of a new top diplomat in Werthein who has demonstrated a more comprehensive alignment with the new Argentine administration’s foreign policy agenda, indicates that this merely marks the beginning of Argentina’s tumultuous relationship with the United Nations and its satellite institutions.
