Milei equates socialism and fascism before Sánchez and Felipe VI

MadridAfter the snub on Tuesday night, Javier Milei did attend the second day of the Ibero-American Summit being held in Madrid. Everyone was waiting to see how the Argentine president's arrival would be, and for the moment, it has been cold and marked by his barbs against progressive governments and policies. Before entering, Milei greeted Felipe VI and Pedro Sánchez. He stopped for a few brief minutes with the former, while he and Sánchez had a fleeting handshake. In fact, they did not share a single word and barely even looked at each other. The last time Milei came to Spain, just two weeks ago, he took advantage of his speech at an informational breakfast to disqualify and insult Sánchez, whom he labeled a "dictator".

This Tuesday, Milei did not attend the opening gala of the Summit at the Teatro Real, nor did he attend the dinner that the Spanish royal house offered afterwards. Instead, he met with the leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, following an Abascal pre-campaign event in Cuenca. The president of Argentina is scheduled to meet this Thursday with the Madrid regional president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, in a meeting parallel to the Ibero-American Summit.

Milei attacks socialism

Shortly after nine in the morning, the plenary session of the summit began, from which a joint declaration should emerge. Representatives from each country have a turn to speak, and Milei was one of the first to intervene. Under the attentive gaze of Pedro Sánchez and Felipe VI, who was in charge of opening the plenary session –taking the opportunity to appeal to political leaders to "stick to the score" and to "focus" on what interests the citizens–, Milei did not hesitate to show off his usual speech: he railed against socialism and attacked European "progressive agendas".

Specifically, the Argentine president cited the Spanish writer and diplomat Salvador de Madariaga, adopting the warning that "socialism is fascist in politics and fascism is socialist in economics." "They concentrate the control of individual decisions in the hands of a minority and make economic dependence an instrument of political domination," and both "share a hatred for the free market, adore state intervention, nationalize companies, regulate the economy, control the media, and dedicate themselves to spreading propaganda and indoctrination," he said. Afterwards, he denounced that "this pretension remains alive in the agendas that are called progressive and that are gaining ground in Europe."

Only the presidents or vice-presidents of thirteen countries have attended the Summit. The major absences were Lula da Silva and the president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, who also maintains a good rapport with Pedro Sánchez, as seen in April in Barcelona. Both have been represented by their Ministers of Foreign Affairs and represent some of the few progressive governments in the region. As a result, the summit has been marked by the presence of right-wing and far-right leaders. In addition to Milei, the presence of the former president of Chile, José Antonio Kast, also stands out.

Among the attendees are also the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, and the President of the European Council, António Costa.