Milei to attend inaugural Board of Peace meeting in Washington

President Javier Milei has altered his schedule for the coming weeks, kicking back a planned trip to the United States in order to attend the first meeting of Donald Trump’s Board of Peace on February 19 in Washington DC.

Milei initially planned to travel to the US this week, visiting Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate for a series of events including the Hispanic Prosperity Gala, organised by the Latino Wall Street Platform. But an invitation to be present at the inaugural meeting of the US president’s new peace body proved too good to miss out. 

Argentina’s President will therefore not visit Miami this week, skipping planned activities and sending Deregulation & State Transformation Federico Sturzenegger in his stead. 

Cabinet Chief Manuel Adorni confirmed Sunday that Milei had been invited to the Board of Peace meeting and had decided to prioritise that trip over his Florida leg.

“The President decided to focus on his domestic agenda,” government sources told the Noticias Argentinas news agency, explaining that two US trips in such a short space of time would limit Milei’s domestic impact at a key time.

The President will participate in some of the Miami events – which included a planned speech at an event organised by the Council of the Americas – remotely, they added.

Sturzenegger will meet with investors and technical bodies while in the US, said the sources.

Details for Milei’s Washington trip are being finalised, with an itinerary expected soon.

Trump launched the Board of Peace at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, and some 19 countries have signed its founding charter.

Originally designed as a mechanism to oversee the Gaza truce and post-war reconstruction, the Board of Peace’s mandate has since expanded, prompting concerns among critics that it could evolve into a rival to the United Nations.

Milei is among a number of world leaders set to attend the February 19 event. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán recently announced that he had been invited to the meeting by Trump.

Romanian President Nicușor Dan confirmed over the weekend that Trump had invited him to the Board of Peace meeting. 

That would depend, he said, “on discussions with our US partners on the format of the meeting for countries like Romania, which are not currently members of the Board but which wish to be part of it on condition its charter is revised.”

Dozens of world leaders have received invitations to be part of the "Board of Peace." Permanent members must pay US$1 billion to join.

Some countries – including Croatia, France, Italy, New Zealand and Norway – have already declined to join it, and others have said they could only consider doing so if its charter were changed.

Under its current charter, the "Board of Peace" has Trump both as its chairman and as the US representative. It says he, as chairman, will have "exclusive authority to create, modify or dissolve entities as necessary" and that he can only be replaced in case of "voluntary resignation or as a result of incapacity.”

Milei is also set to visit the United States in the week of March 8, when he will be the star guest at the ‘Argentina Week’ investment fair.

– TIMES/NA/PERFIL