President of Argentina Javier Milei fired Foreign Minister Diana Mondino on Wednesday evening after Argentina voted in favor of lifting the United States “embargo” on the Cuban communist Castro regime at the United Nations.
The United Nations General Assembly passed a new symbolic, non-binding resolution on Wednesday calling for the United States to end its decades-long economic “embargo” on Cuba. 187 countries voted in favor of the resolution and two against: the United States and Israel. Moldova was the only nation that abstained from casting a vote.
American human rights sanctions on Cuba, a U.S.-designated state sponsor of terrorism, were implemented in 1960, and include a series of regulations that mildly limit economic activity between the two countries. The “embargo” does not limit shipping medicine or humanitarian supplies.
The “embargo” does not hinder tourism in Cuba nor does it prohibit the communist regime from trading with more than 190 other nations, including ideologically aligned nations such as China and Russia. The U.S. “embargo” does not prevent Cuba from trade with the European Union, either, which has provided Cuba with hundreds of millions of euros in financing since 1988.
According to the Argentine newspaper La Nación, Milei, a staunch anti-communist, fired Mondino “less than an hour” after Argentina voted in favor of the U.N. resolution. Minutes later, the Argentine presidency announced Mondino’s dismissal in an official statement, informing that the position will now be occupied by Gerardo Werthein, the current Argentine Ambassador to the United States.
“Argentina is going through a period of profound changes, and this new stage demands that our diplomatic corps reflect in every decision the values of freedom, sovereignty and individual rights that characterize Western democracies,” the statement reads.
“In this sense, our country categorically opposes the Cuban dictatorship and will stand firm in promoting a foreign policy that condemns all regimes that perpetuate the violation of human rights and individual freedoms,” it continues.
The statement concluded by stating that the Argentine government will launch an audit of the Foreign Ministry’s career staff with the aim of “identifying promoters of anti-freedom agendas.”
Milei, upon taking office, vowed to realign Argentina’s foreign policy with the United States and Israel as its main allies. The new foreign policy for Argentina marks a dramatic shift for the South American nation and seeks to undo nearly two decades’ worth of previous socialist administrations that pushed Argentina towards China, Russia, Iran, and the region’s authoritarian regimes of Cuba and Venezuela.
Alberto Fernández, Milei’s predecessor, maintained friendly ties with the Cuban regime and its figurehead President, Miguel Díaz-Canel, whom he met with several times throughout his presidency. Their last official encounter took place in September 2023 on the sidelines of the G77+China summit held in Havana.
The local news channel Todo Noticias reported on Thursday that, according to an unnamed government source, Milei is working to shape the Foreign Ministry’s policies to his ideological line, ensuring Argentine diplomats vote in line with the United States and Israel “in all instances.”
“Diplomats have to understand that Milei won the elections. Whoever does not understand this will no longer have a place,” the source said.
Todo Noticias asserted that Argentina intends to promote a “resistance front” against the United Nation’s economic 2030 Agenda “sustainable development” plan. According to the news channel, the Argentine executive recognizes Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele as “strategic allies.”
The Argentine government reportedly stressed to the nation’s diplomatic personnel this month in an internal document that it should “accompany the ideas of freedom or step aside.”
Todo Noticias reportedly obtained a copy of the document in which Milei stated that “no one representing Argentina can accompany statements against the right to life, liberty or property.”
“The 2030 Agenda, although well-intentioned in its goals, is nothing more than a socialist supranational government program that seeks to solve the problems of modernity with solutions that violate the sovereignty of nation states and violate people’s right to life, liberty and property,” Milei reportedly said in the document.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
