After a day of good news following the Senate's broad approval of the Bases Law bill in addition to an arrangement with China to extend the currency swap in force, Argentine President Javier Milei and his entourage left for Borgo Egnazia, Italy, to attend the G7 Summit, during which he plans to hold talks with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, French President Emmanuel Macron and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, among other world leaders.
According to the latest World Economic Outlook report released Tuesday by the World Bank from its headquarters in Washington DC, Argentina's economy is expected to fall sharply this year, thus becoming the Latin American country going through the tightest contraction in the region before rebounding in 2025. The study projected a 3.5% drop this year followed by a 5% surge in 2025, thus outperforming the rest of the continent.
Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino took heavy social media flak Thursday after her remarks in a newspaper interview that all Chinese people looked the same. Therefore nobody could know whether or not the staff at the controversial base in the Neuquén province were scientists.
Although Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino had the near-impossible task of putting her country on good terms with China despite President Javier Milei's disparaging campaign comments, some common ground was reached this week as the South American diplomat reaffirmed the one-China principle and Beijing backed Argentina's claim to the Falkland/Malvinas Islands.
Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino is on a crusade in China to discuss bilateral issues with an economic giant with whom President Javier Milei had pledged during his campaign that he wanted no ties. “Not only will I not do business with China, I will not do business with any communist,” Milei announced repeatedly on his way to Casa Rosada.
Foreign Ministers Mauro Vieira of Brazil and Diana Mondino of Argentina met in Brasilia on Monday for talks aimed at bringing South America's two largest countries closer together, despite the opposing views of presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Javier Milei, especially on each other.
US Southern Command (Southcom) Chief General Laura Richardson held a meeting in Buenos Aires with Cabinet Chief Nicolás Posse and Ministers Diana Mondino (Foreign Affairs) and Luis Petri (Defense) as well as with Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces Head General Xavier Isaac to discuss military cooperation between both countries, with a focus on China's presence in the region. In addition, Argentine purchases of defense equipment were also reviewed. Also participating in the talks was US Ambassador Marc Stanley.
Diplomatic authorities of Argentina and Colombia have taken concrete steps to overcome their government's differences and restore ties between both countries to normal following the engagement in reciprocal diatribes on TV and on social media by Presidents Gustavo Petro and Javier Milei.
Foreign Ministries Diana Mondino of Argentina and Alicia Bárcena of Mexico held a telephone conversation Friday during which they concurred that the recent exchange of epithets between Presidents Javier Milei and Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) did not jeopardize the two countries' diplomatic relations, which they agreed to label as solid. Bárcena and Mondino thus made it clear that neither nation intended to escalate the dispute.
Argentine Foreign Minister Daiana Mondino traveled to Japan between March 21 and 23 to boost a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the Asian country and the South American Common Market (Mercosur). While at it, Mondino seized the opportunity to further criticize China.