Javer Milei’s government has written a new chapter of its internal dispute over the direction of Argentina's foreign policy – two leaders from the Las Fuerzas del Cielo, the group closest to the President, have left top posts at the Foreign Ministry.
The departing officials are Úrsula Basset and Nahuel Sotelo, two members of the ideological pro-Milei group who had arrived during former foreign minister Diana Mondino’s administration.
Basset, until Friday was Human Rights director, will continue in public office, but will be transferred to the Justice Ministry, where she will work alongside Justice Secretary Sebastián Amerio.
Nevertheless, Basset’s time at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship did not go unnoticed – the ultra-conservative lawyer oversaw the decision that saw Argentina become the only country in the world to reject a vote in favour of the rights of indigenous communities at the UN General Assembly.
Sotelo, in the meantime, departs the Worship Secretariat to return to a seat at the Buenos Aires Province Legislature, which he was able to renew in the recent elections, winning in the region’s Third Electoral Section as part of the list headed by Maximiliano Bondarenko. Sotelo, in fact, was the only representative of Las Fuerzas del Cielo who made a list in the last midterm election for La Libertad Avanza, whose composition was under strict supervision by Karina Milei and her organiser in the region, Sebastián Pareja.
The exits have not gone unnoticed between diplomats and career officials. Inside the Foreign Ministry, they are interpreted as a sign of the change in command: the arrival of Foreign Ministry Gerardo Werthein has reduced the margins of influence of the ruling party’s most ideological wing, which sought regular confrontations with culture war issues, such as adopting a gender perspective and the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda in international forums.
In practice, that ideological quest is now in the background, with a more pragmatic scheme to the fore, one aimed at normalising links with multilateral bodies and recovering the traditional ties of Argentina’s foreign policy.
Inside the Foreign Ministry, they admit that the changes are an inevitable readjustment after months of internal tension. However, the ousting of Basset and Sotelo does not mean that Las Fuerzas del Cielo – which is under the tutelage of Santiago Caputo – will lose weight within the Executive Branch. The group’s influence, sources say, will move inside other offices and branches of government.
Werthein’s priority is to consolidate a speech of stability and foreseeability which seduces external partners. “The time of symbolic gestures is already gone, now we need to build trust,” summarised one official familiar with the new strategy.
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