MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Milei removes embassy official in Spain over internal dispute

The conflict had become public in April, when Nimo said on social media that Bunge had taken away the office where he received businesspeople interested in investing in Argentina

The government of Argentine President Javier Milei has dismissed Marcelo Alejandro Nimo as specialized attaché for Investment Promotion and International Trade at the Argentine embassy in Spain, ending an internal conflict the official had been engaged in with the ambassador in Madrid, Wenceslao Bunge Saravia.

The measure was formalized through Decree 588/2026, signed by Milei, Economy Minister Luis Caputo and Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno. The text bases the decision solely on the need to “achieve greater efficiency in the functioning” of the diplomatic mission. The decree refers to a “dismissal,” though Nimo said his departure was a “personal decision, agreed with the government,” prompted by his differences with the ambassador over the embassy's spending.

The conflict had become public in April, when Nimo said on social media that Bunge had taken away the office where he received businesspeople interested in investing in Argentina, a space he described as symbolic for Milei's supporters. In that message, the official criticized the ambassador for what he considered a “lack of commitment to shrinking the state and meeting the fiscal responsibility principles” promoted by the government. The dispute added to earlier friction over the separate agenda of meetings with businesspeople that Nimo pursued alongside the mission's institutional activity.

Nimo, a lawyer who describes himself on social media as a disciple of Spanish economist Jesús Huerta de Soto, a figure of the Austrian school, is not a career diplomat. Before his appointment he was an assistant to former President Carlos Menem and a councilor for the PRO, the party of former President Mauricio Macri. He was named trade attaché in August 2024 by Milei's own government, with the stated aim of promoting investment and trade.

Ambassador Bunge Saravia, a businessman who headed the Spanish subsidiary of the bank Credit Suisse, was appointed last year with the task of smoothing relations between the governments of Milei and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, which have been marked by sharp tensions. The two leaders have clashed publicly on repeated occasions since Milei took office.

After his departure was formalized, Nimo posted a message thanking the president and saying he would return to Argentina to “continue supporting” his political project. So far, neither the embassy nor the Argentine government has announced a replacement for the post.