Argentina’s President Javier Milei boarded a flight to the United States on Wednesday to participate in the inaugural meeting of the new “eBoard of Peace” convened by Republican leader Donald Trump.
Milei’s delegation, which also includes Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno and Presidential Chief-of-Staff Karina Milei, departed at 1pm local time bound for Washington DC.
Several heads of state are expected to attend, although a number of European countries will be notably absent. Regional backing is also limited, with Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina representing Latin America.
The Board of Peace, of which Trump is the chairman, was initially designed to oversee the Gaza truce and the territory's reconstruction after the war between Hamas and Israel.
But its purpose has since morphed into resolving all sorts of international conflicts, triggering fears the US president wants to create a rival to the United Nations.
The first meeting is scheduled to take place on Thursday in Washington.
Since Trump launched his Board of Peace at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, at least 19 countries have signed its founding charter.
Milei immediately accepted Trump’s offer to join and signed up on Argentina’s behalf at the Switzerland summit.
The body’s membership is varied. From the Americas, only Paraguay have signed up, while Europe is represented by Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary, Kosovo, Armenia and Azerbaijan. From Asia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have joined, accompanied by Pakistan and Indonesia. Morocco, Egypt and Turkey also accepted invitations, with the Middle East represented by Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Jordan.
However, many of Washington's NATO partners have refused to join, including Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, who has an excellent relationship with Trump.
Countries have been asked to pay US$1 billion for permanent membership, and the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country invaded Ukraine in 2022, has drawn particular criticism.
Milei’s trip to the US will be a brief one – he has no other engagements scheduled beyond delivering a speech to the Board of Peace.
Argentina’s President will return to the United States in two weeks time to attend a meeting of Latin American presidents convened by Trump for March 7.
He is set to share the stage with Paraguay’s President Santiago Peña, Bolivia’s Rodrigo Paz, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa and Peru’s José Jeri, among others.
The leaders are expected to discuss China’s growing influence in the Americas – an issue of concern for the Republican, who is seeking to counter Beijing’s expanding power.
Later in the week, from March 9 to 11, Milei will appear in Manhattan to take part in “Argentina Week,” a promotional event in New York. The President is scheduled to speak on March 10, accompanied by several members of his Cabinet.
Milei also plans to stop off on his way home to attend the inauguration of Chile’s recently elected right-wing leader Jose Antonio Kast, which is due to be held on March 11 at the Palacio de La Moneda.
– TIMES/NA/PERFIL
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