Milei links socialism to fascism in speech before Spain PM Sánchez

President Javier Milei played the role of ungrateful guest on Thursday, using his address to the Ibero-American Summit in Madrid to underline his ideological differences with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who is just weeks away from a key election.

Milei, 55, attacked socialism, defended his administration and reaffirmed Argentina’s claim to sovereignty over the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands.

Speaking in front of Sánchez, with whom he had exchanged a frosty greeting earlier in the day, the head of state read from a prepared speech in which he returned to familiar criticisms of the left and its political doctrines.

A central theme was his contention that socialism and fascism share the same characteristics. Drawing on a phrase attributed to writer and diplomat Salvador de Madariaga, he declared: “Socialism is fascist in politics and fascism is socialist in economics.”

“Both doctrines (socialism and fascism) concentrate control over individual decisions in the hands of a minority and make economic dependence an instrument of political domination,” he continued.

“The fascist maxim, everything within the State, nothing outside the State, nothing against the State, describes socialist states,” Milei said.

The La Libertad Avanza leader added that the two ideologies “share a hatred of the free market, adore state intervention, nationalise companies, regulate the economy, control the media and devote themselves to spreading propaganda and indoctrination.”

He also warned of what he described as the advance of left-wing agendas in Europe. “That pretension remains alive in agendas that call themselves progressive and are gaining ground in Europe,” he said.

Milei also defended his administration’s economic policies. Recalling the situation he inherited upon taking office, he said his government had been left with “a consolidated deficit of 15 percentage points of GDP and an obsolete economy weighed down by ridiculous regulations.”

The La Libertad Avanza leader claimed his administration had eliminated five percentage points of the Treasury deficit within a month, followed six months later by the elimination of the Central Bank deficit. He also highlighted tax cuts and the removal of more than 18,000 regulations which, he argued, had hindered private enterprise.

Milei won election in December 2023 on a mandate to drive down Argentina’s chronically high inflation. At the time, inflation ran into three digits and Milei shrank it with a programme of biting austerity and strict fiscal discipline.

The President’s successes on taming inflation and erasing the budget deficit have, however, begun to lose luster in the face of weak growth, falling manufacturing output and the loss of over 240,000 formal private sector jobs on his watch.

Frosty reception

Milei's appearance at the summit was marked by a series of provocative protocol snubs. He skipped Wednesday's opening ceremony at the Teatro Real and the royal gala dinner at the Royal Palace, opting instead to meet his ideological ally Santiago Abascal, leader of Spain's far-right Vox party.

Abascal is expected to be a challenger to Sánchez, who is seeking re-election, in the Spanish general election scheduled for 29 November.

Polls suggest the right-wing Partido Popular (PP) is on course to win, but fall short of an absolute majority, potentially leaving it dependent on support from the far right to form a government.

Milei has repeatedly and fiercely criticised Sánchez. During a visit to the Spanish capital two weeks earlier, he branded the prime minister “corrupt” and an “unpresentable dictator”.

The relationship deteriorated sharply in 2024, when Milei triggered a diplomatic crisis by calling Sánchez's wife, Begoña Gómez, “corrupt” during a visit to Madrid, amid an investigation into alleged influence-peddling.

Their encounter on Thursday, against the backdrop of an event attended by relatively few Latin American leaders, amounted to little more than a brief, cold handshake.

Sánchez welcomed the visiting delegations at the Royal Collections Gallery alongside King Felipe VI and Ibero-American Secretary-General Andrés Allamand. Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares had earlier greeted Milei with a similarly restrained handshake.

The Spanish PM did not mention Milei by name in his address, though he appeared to take an indirect swipe at him. He said Ibero-America stood for “dialogue, at a time when some seek to reduce international relations to force and subordination,”, and “cooperation against those who advocate retreat and unilateralism.”

Only seven Latin American presidents attended the summit, among them several right-wing leaders, including Chile's José Antonio Kast, Costa Rica's Laura Fernández, Bolivia's Rodrigo Paz and Honduras's Nasry Asfura.

Despite the reduced turnout, Allamand said the gathering had reaffirmed the organisation's political standing, following the previous summit in Ecuador, where only four presidents attended and disagreements prevented the adoption of a final declaration.

The summit also drew an unexpected high-profile visitor in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who arrived in Madrid to hold separate meetings with Sánchez and other leaders as Kyiv seeks international support.

Malvinas claim

Another key section of Milei's address was devoted to Argentina's sovereignty claim over the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands, which he described as a “sacred cause” for his country.

He criticised the Sea Lion project and hydrocarbon exploration in waters near the archipelago, taking aim at the United Kingdom for authorising activities through licences granted to Rockhopper and Navitas.

“These activities compromise natural resources that belong to the Argentine people,” he said.

Milei said his government had launched sanctioning proceedings and filed criminal complaints against the companies involved and their executives. He also reiterated that Argentina had initiated arbitration proceedings against the United Kingdom and requested measures to prevent the start or continuation of the Sea Lion project.

Restoring the full exercise of sovereignty over the Malvinas, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, as well as their surrounding maritime areas, remained a permanent objective of his administration, he said.

“We pursue this through peaceful means and in accordance with international law,” he emphasised.

“We reiterate to the British government our willingness to negotiate in accordance with the relevant United Nations resolutions. London has an opportunity here to demonstrate respect for the international rules that it so frequently recommends to the rest of the world.”

Milei concluded by calling on Ibero-American leaders to put their authority at the service of freedom.

“Argentina is ready to pursue this path alongside those who wish to leave decadence behind,” he said.

– TIMES/AFP/PERFIL/NA