The president of Argentina, Javier Milei, said Thursday that Pope Francis “has been the most important Argentine in Argentine history”prior to Rome for the state funeral of the late Supreme Pontiff.
“It is an extremely important event because, He likes who likes Pope Francis, Jorge Bergoglio, has been the most important Argentine in Argentine history. That is to say, He became the spiritual leader of more than 1.5 billion human beings”, Said Milei in statements to Radio Rivadavia.
The president referred to the late Pope as “a person of a huge wingspan” and added: “We had the privilege of being Argentine and, as a head of state, I cannot stop attending an event of such characteristics, especially being that the Argentine people are a Catholic people.”
Milei also stressed that he hopes “to represent the circumstances to Argentines, who have a Catholic faith and basically They saw in Pope Francis a leader who was clearly an impressive leader“.
“when one later knows him, those who have had the possibility of knowing him in person and knowing how he acts in International politics and others, we know of the political stature he had,” added the president.
Upon knowing the news of the death of the Pope, the Argentine government decreed seven days of national mourning and the executive and legislative agendas of the week were suspended.
Milei’s radical opinion change over Pope Francis
Prior to getting to the presidency, when he was still a deputy, Milei was very critical of Francisco and accused him of being “an accomplice of the murderous lefties.”
He also described him as “representative of the evil on earth”, in addition to assigning qualifiers as “communist” and “fool” for his work in the popular neighborhoods of the country.
The president changed the tone drastically once he became president in December 2023 and even visited Francisco in the Vatican.
“The youngest delegation in history” will go with Milei to the funeral of Pope Francis
In his statements on Thursday, Milei defended himself from the criticisms received in recent days due to the number of members of his cabinet who will travel with him and argued: “We are the most austere and smaller delegation in history.”
Next to the president will travel the chief of Cabinet, Guillermo Francos; the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship, Gerardo Werthein; the Minister of Human Capital, Sandra Pettovello; and the presidential spokesman, Manuel Adorni, who will return to the country on Sunday morning.
