‘Liberty as a mandate’ – Milei links his Presidency to San Martín’s ‘ideas and values’

President Javier Milei reappeared in public on Monday after more than a week without an appearance, heading the official government tribute commemorating General José de San Martín on the 176th anniversary of his death. 

During a speech, the La Libertad Avanza leader sought to link his ideology to the late general and the libertador of Argentina, Chile, and Peru, maintaining: "We have no past to which to return because we already know where we are heading, taking liberty as a mandate and following the path of our founding father."

At the rally in Plaza San Martín, after placing a wreath at the feet of the monument of the Father of the Homeland, Milei remarked that San Martín "was the one who freed us from the Spanish yoke, leaving us an immortal legacy via the phrase: 'Let us be free so that nothing else matters.'"

Also attending the event were ministers, officials and City Hall authorities, apart from personalities invited from the legislative and judicial branches and diplomatic representatives, all on a cloudy day with drizzle.

‘Effort and sacrifice’

Milei, speaking on his first official activity after nine days enclosed at Olivos presidential residence, also highlighted the general’s "effort and sacrifice," saying that "the grandeur of San Martín lies in having taken up arms to free half a continent." 

The President then implicitly referred to the opposition, assuring that "those who wish to submit us begin by attacking our ideas, beliefs and values," adding: "They want to make us believe that sin is just and that justice is sin and that robbery is justified."

"Defending the liberty which our General left us is also to defend our ideas and values against those who try to undermine them. And a free people also requires trained security forces equipped with the necessary weapons to protect the most precious thing we have because evil exists and those who choose that path must be submitted by force," manifested the President.

Milei, who will seek re-election in next year’s presidential election, declared that "the feats of San Martín are a permanent source of inspiration" for the entire Cabinet of his government and that the mission lying ahead "is none other than to go beyond what anybody believed possible and revive the flame of liberty in our Nation." 

"We will give battle for liberty wherever necessary without counting the cost because that is what the country needs today: liberty, growth, order and prosperity. Plus a government committed to defending these principles, even when all the world opposes them, because they are genuine,” said Milei.

“There are still frontiers to cross because Argentina is still not the freest country in the world but it could be. We know that this road is hard and we also know that some wish to return to the past in which we used to live," he remarked.

‘Liberty as a mandate’

Towards the end of his remarks, Milei complained that the previous Peronist economic model "impoverished" most people while "a tiny minority benefitted enormously" and, for that reason, considers that "when the will is firm and the direction clear, there is no other option than to move ahead." 

"We have no past to which to return because we know where that leads us. Today we have liberty as a mandate clear in our heads, following the path of our founding father, who left us lines in the sand which he protected with the blood of his mounted grenadiers," said Milei.

"That is why all our efforts must go towards preserving the greatest legacy of General San Martín on every front: a free country and a growing people. There is no better way to honour his memory than to convert ourselves into as good a country as we can be. 

“Today General San Martín is more alive than ever, Argentina is alive, may the forces of Heaven accompany us and viva la libertad, carajo!" said the President, ending with his traditional political catchphrase.

– TIMES/NA/PERFIL