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Argentina's President Milei
Photo: Agustin Marcarian / REUTERS
During the election campaign he appeared with a chainsaw, he publicly ridiculed feminists, and he described politicians as "parasites": Argentina's new President Javier Milei is not known for his strong tact. Now Milei's sometimes very direct manner leads to massive diplomatic upsets with Colombia.
The Foreign Ministry in Bogotá announced that the expulsion of several Argentine diplomats had been ordered. "The Argentine President's statements have violated the trust and dignity of the democratically elected President Petro," said a statement published on Wednesday (local time).
Milei is apparently targeting Petro's past
Milei recently called Petro a "terrorist murderer" in an interview on the US television channel CNN that has not yet been broadcast in full. He was apparently alluding to Petro's past in the left-wing guerrilla organization M-19. The current president was a member of the rebels in the 1980s and spent two years in prison for illegal possession of weapons. According to his own statements, he was not involved in the bloody occupation of the Palace of Justice in 1985.
It is not the first time that Milei has harshly attacked his counterpart. In January, Milei had already called Petro a "murderous communist who is letting Colombia fall." Colombia then withdrew its ambassador from Argentina.
Milei is an admirer of former US President Donald Trump and wants to lead Argentina out of its years-long crisis with an ultra-liberal economic course. The self-proclaimed "anarcho-capitalist" has been Argentina's president since December 10th. He had originally promised radical economic reforms and the privatization of large state-owned companies.
However, MIlei has now had to withdraw or weaken many of his radical projects. He does not have a majority in Congress, and he recently got into a fight with several governors of the South American country in a dispute over money.
fek/dpa/Reuters/AFP