Mr. Milei works to surprise us, amaze us, and plunge us into perplexity: in front of him, many times we do not know what to think. Doubt advances, cruel, mocking. Not a small feat in these predictable times that someone manages not to be; it is also true that the worst accidents are, by definition, unpredictable. But beyond that merit or demerit, the discussion that divides the audience is simple: does he do it because he decides to, or does he do it because he cannot help it? Is he or is he made?
We talk about his violence, his rudeness, his insistence on insulting anyone who does not pay him homage: he has done it with politicians and journalists, of course, but also with friends or former friends, economists of his stripe, the millionaires of Davos, the Pope, several heads of state –he said that the Colombian Petro was “a terrorist murderer”; the Brazilian Lula, “communist and corrupt”; the Mexican López, “ignorant”– and the list goes on.
There are those who say it is a strategy: that, on one hand, his violent attitude sets him apart from other politicians –”the caste”, as he says– and brings him closer to the monumental anger of millions of Argentines after so many years of failures; that five years ago he was nobody and it was these outbursts that brought him to power, so he sees no reason to keep quiet. And on the other hand, so much foul noise distracts his compatriots and the rest of the world from the disastrous situation in which Argentina continues under his mandate: a 30% or 40% recession, tens of thousands of layoffs, increasing hunger and misery, a deranged administration, and inflation –which he celebrates for being low– at 8% per month. And so, the world talks about him for his screaming and outbursts –and some even celebrate him– is his best trick so that we do not see what he does when he is silent. It would be a way of exercising political power based on distraction provided by verbal violence, disdain for differences, and calls to eliminate them: something that is becoming more common because it pays off, because there are more and more voters and people willing to follow those shouts.
I wish it were so. I wish he were a charlatan who deceives and manipulates us with his outbursts. Because the other option is perhaps more worrying: that, very simply, Mr. Milei cannot act in any other way. That, as suggested by his stories of childhood and youth, as confirmed by his tales of dead dogs that spoke to God and promised him the presidency, this is his nature: a confused, irate man, incapable of following certain basic rules of coexistence that any being should respect. In short, he is a man who talks over people, and who cannot go from television jester to president because his personality was perfect for the former and unsustainable for the latter. He appears as such when, for example, he continues to insult Argentine lawmakers whose votes he needs to pass at least one law –and he has been in power for six months without accomplishing it. Or when, as yesterday, he meddles in strictly personal matters of the visiting country’s president –and manages to overshadow the big meeting of his ultra friends with his rudeness.
This has, as we know, triggered a diplomatic incident between my two countries, Argentina and Spain. As an Argentine, I am ashamed of this man, surprised and saddened by the 15 million men and women who brought him to power. As a Spaniard, I believe there is no reason to accept that a foreign president comes to spread his bad manners and grudges. Minister Albares said yesterday that “Spain demands public apologies from Mr. Milei” and that if he does not offer them, “we will take all measures that we believe are appropriate to defend our sovereignty and dignity.” Mr. Milei was scheduled to return to Madrid, on another “private trip”, on June 20 to receive a decoration from another far-right society; I wonder if those “appropriate measures” include the option of not letting him in or, more diplomatically, letting him know that it would be better if he did not come.
Hopefully. It would, hopefully, be a way for the gentleman to eventually understand that he cannot do everything he pleases. This should be, above all, the task of the Argentines, but if the Spaniards want to help us… Follow all the information from El PAÍS América on Facebook and X, or in our weekly newsletter. Continue reading
