MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Milei returns to BA after lunch with Meloni

While attending the Pope's funeral, Milei had lunch with Meloni but almost no contact with any other world leader except Macron

During his stay in Rome for Pope Francis' funeral, Argentine President Javier Milei had lunch with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and interacted briefly with other leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte, but had no direct contact with US President Donald Trump, who had other priorities, like talking to Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky.

The topics discussed during the encounter between Milei and Meloni were not disclosed. However, they shared a symbolic embrace in public as the Libertarian leader was granted a front row seat during the ceremony as the representative of the late pontiff's native country.

Milei also addressed past criticisms of Pope Francis, noting he had duly apologized. “I asked him for forgiveness when I saw him for the first time. I had no order of magnitude of what it implied to be the leader of a community. Keep in mind that, philosophically, I am an anarcho-capitalist. Those figures in my head were not there, they did not exist”, explained Milei. According to the President, the Pope replied: “Don't get excited, they are mistakes of youth.”

Milei's entourage was made up of Presidential Secretary and sister Karina Milei, Cabinet Chief Guillermo Francos, Presidential Spokesman Manuel Adorni, and Ministers Gerardo Werthein (Foreign Affairs), Patricia Bullrich (Security), Sandra Pettovello (Human Capital), and Secretary of Worship Nahuel Sotelo.

Upon returning to Buenos Aires, Milei awarded the Order of May to Spanish Economist Jesús Huerta de Soto, a fellow anarcho-capitalist. The ceremony at Casa Rosada followed a series of joint engagements.

“Professor Jesús Huerta de Soto is the most important anarcho-capitalist in the world. In fact, he is the one who coined the term anarcho-capitalism. He is a libertarian liberal and, if one wants to be stricter, he would say that he is a paleolibertarian, that is, a libertarian, as God commands, because he is also a deep believer. He is a great source of inspiration,” Milei said in a radio interview.

The Order of May is granted exclusively to foreign civilian and military citizens who “have distinguished themselves for their services and personal works and deserve the gratitude of the Nation.”

Milei is now expected to actively participate in Adorni's bid to become a lawmaker at the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires in next month's elections.