(CNN Spanish) — Just hours after it exploded the diplomatic conflict between Argentina and SpainSpanish companies came out to repudiate the statements of President Javier Milei. Leaders of some of these corporations had just met with the Argentine president the day before.
On Saturday morning, within the framework of Milei’s trip to Spain – questioned by Argentine actors for not having on the agenda a priori nor any meeting of national interest―, the Argentine government released the list of businessmen with whom the president would meet, thus justifying the trip. “The most important in Spain. among which representatives of BBVA, Santander, Iberia, Mapfre and Telefónica and the president of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE), Antonio Garamendi, stand out,” they reported from the press office.
Hours later, the same companies came out to distance themselves from Milei’s statements, interpreted in that country as grievances.
“We deeply reject statements that are out of tone, not in a diplomatic message, which is what there should be between two friendly countries, against the president of the Government and against the president’s wife. It is not the place or the place, it is not what is asked of two sister countries,” said Garamendi. “Lately, institutional loyalty has been lacking and failing. Democracy exists because the institutions exist, regardless of whether someone likes or dislikes our Prime Minister, and in this case, of course we did not like him at all,” he stated in an interview with Cadena SER.
Other corporations supported the views of the CEOE head and pointed out what happened. Iberia released a statement in which it clarified that the meeting only discussed the economy and distanced itself from what happened later. “In a political act that had nothing to do with the business meeting on Saturday, the president of Argentina made some statements that do not comply with the diplomatic language that should be used between two friendly countries, with close bilateral relations,” he added.
Spain is the third most important investor in the country, according to the latest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) report from the Central Bank of Argentina, and the most important in Europe. Only the United States precedes it, first, and Brazil, next.
In the third quarter of 2023, Spanish investments reached US$ 746 million, which implied a year-on-year increase of 18%. This data is reinforced with the recent report from the National Institute of Statistics and Census (Indec) that places the European Union as the second main trading partner, a new trend, being a place that throughout last year occupied China.
Federico Vaccarezza, researcher in international trade relations, says that Spain is Argentina’s bridge with the European Union. “What happened is very serious because the European Union is our second most important trading partner, and Spain occupies a fundamental place in the bloc,” he explains to CNN.
The expert proposes a bipolar global scenario with two large groups that divide the trade map: the BRICS (a growing alliance founded in 2011 by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and the G7 (made up of the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom), and traces Milei’s journey in a clear positioning with the latter.
“In the middle you have a lot of countries that, since what they seek to satisfy is their national interest, sometimes they can bet on one side and other times on the other, trying to strike a balance,” he points out.
Asked by the local press, the president of Argentina said that companies that have investments in the country “are determined by the ties between individuals and will remain in the country.”
And, in contrast to the position of the Spanish businessmen who referred to diplomatic misconduct, the Argentine chancellor, Diana Mondino, took it to the personal level. “The personal relationship should not affect the relationship between countries (…) Investments are managed differently, they are very long-term,” she said.
Vaccarezza agrees that it is not likely that companies already established in Argentina will leave due to this context, but he points out a counterpoint.
“All large companies, all large multinationals, are economic extensions of the interests of large States. In some cases, there are corporations that tend to have their own interest regardless of what this or that president says, but the ambassador has the function of representing the interests of his country against the other and that can be important, for example, in a eventual change of conditions,” he explained.
Carlos Cué, a Spanish journalist from the newspaper El País who works on Argentine issues, told the local Radio con vos that he had never before seen companies issue a statement repudiating a country in which they have interests.
“Companies never get into those troubles,” he said and stated that he found it difficult to generate large economic agreements or investments “with governments under these conditions.”
Vaccarezza also raises the issue of competition between economies.
“What must be taken into account is that Argentina, as an emerging country, competes with many countries that seek to attract investments to the region, and there is nothing that Argentina offers that other countries do not already offer in more competitive conditions,” he warns.
The matter is reminiscent of how during the first debate of the Bases Law Milei tweeted grievances towards deputies and governors, while his ministers tried to negotiate with them. He now fights with Sánchez, while seeking Spanish investments.
At the time, the Bases Law failed to be discussed in Congress, but now, after political agreements and a lowering of tone, it managed to be approved in the Lower House and with prospects of being discussed soon in the Senate.
In international matters, there are already several scandals that the president has accumulated in just five months of government. Will Milei choose to find another tone for diplomatic relations?
