Internal tensions within the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs were constant during almost a year of Javier Milei’s government and resulted in the departure of its head, Diana Mondino, a month ago. The new chancellor, Gerardo Werthein, expelled the Argentine ambassador to Spain, Roberto Bosch, in recent hours. The career diplomat had been in the sights of Casa Rosada since Argentina’s far-right president came into conflict with the socialist government of Pedro Sánchez.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been at the center of differences between far-right factions: Mondino has attempted to coordinate with the more traditional diplomatic corps, an aspect which has bypassed the executive. Milei became angry with her for voting against the US embargo on Cuba in the United Nations General Assembly.
With new Foreign Minister Werthein, Argentina has already voted alone against two UN resolutions: one that seeks to promote the rights of indigenous peoples and the other “to eliminate forms of violence against women and the girls. In addition, Argentina’s position at the last G20 summit put objections to the 2030 Agenda on the table, although it signed the joint declaration.
National authorities are still evaluating Bosch’s replacement, as this is a key position in relations with European organizations, and several forces are fighting for this place. From the entourage of Daniel Scioli, current Secretary of Tourism, Sports and the Environment, they took it upon themselves to deny the rumors of an alleged interest in the position. Scioli was ambassador to Brazil under the government of Alberto Fernández.
Bosch was Ricardo Alfonsín’s right-hand man when the radical leader was in charge of the Argentine embassy in Madrid (during the Peronist government of Alberto Fernández). After Alfonsín’s departure, Bosch was promoted to the top post in the diplomatic headquarters by decision of Mondino.
Milei’s trip to Madrid
Since May, Bosch has been in the crosshairs of an executive deeply involved in diplomatic crises with the Spanish authorities. Bosch informed the Sánchez government in writing that Milei’s trip to Madrid, where he participated in the Vox event, was a “private visit” and not official, which was considered a mistake. The Argentine ambassador had to give explanations to the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs José Manuel Albares, irritated by the statements of Milei, who accused Begoña Gómez, Sánchez’s wife, of corruption – in relation to the complaint filed by Manos Liminas.
After the Argentine president refused to apologize for his comments, the socialist leader decided to fire his ambassador to Buenos Aires, María Jesús Alonso. Milei also considered doing the same, but kept Bosch at the destination. Yes, the ambassador had come under scrutiny.
Months later, the bilateral relationship returned to normal. After the inauguration of the new Argentine chancellor, Albares assured that his main objective in the country is “to achieve the maximum level of trust and mutual respect in political and institutional terms that both peoples deserve.” A week ago, Werthein received the new ambassador to the country, Joaquín de Aristegui Laborde.
Huerta del Soto, the guru
Diplomatic sources indicate that Milei criticized Bosch for not having established good relations with Jesús Huerta de Soto, reference of “anarcho-capitalism” and guru of the Argentine president. The billionaire insurance businessman and Spanish teacher presented the ultra president with the Juan de Mariana 2024 prize. The outgoing ambassador also did not have good relations with the commercial representative of the diplomatic headquarters, Alejandro Nimo , who maintained good relations with businessmen close to power. president.
“Bosch is a career diplomat. It must be very difficult to be an ambassador to this government. The new chancellor will seek to appoint someone close to him. Werthein has previously stated that he is aligned only with the United States and Israel, thus justifying his absence from the Vatican to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the peace treaty between Argentina and Chile. “This minister says absolutely yes to the Executive,” Federico Polak, former representative for commercial activities at the Argentine Embassy in Madrid between 2020 and 2021, tells elDiario.es.
Meanwhile, Bosch awaits, not without surprise, the presidential decree ordering his return to Buenos Aires. This is not the only change at the Foreign Ministry: Werthein also replaced the consul general in New York, Pablo Piñeiro Aramburu, with whom he worked when he was ambassador to the United States. Aramburu had been widely exposed after the revelation of images of a Halloween party he had organized at his residence and to which dozens of people were invited. He will be replaced by Gerardo Díaz Bartolomé, who served in the embassy in Washington under Martín Lousteau during the conservative government of Mauricio Macri.
In addition, it emerged that the government was considering a replacement at the Chinese embassy, a country with which Milei has achieved rapprochement. The Argentine president, after having repeatedly declared that he would not negotiate with communist countries, was able to contain his verbosity and held a bilateral meeting with Xi Jinping during the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro.
