Isabel Díaz Ayuso has made official this afternoon her international attempt against Pedro Sánchez for which she has recruited Javier Milei. And she did it in a massive event in which the Madrid regional president decorated the Argentine president with the international medal of the Community of Madrid in front of more than 70 national and international media, which were not allowed to make a single ask.
The harmony between both leaders, partly forged by the animosity they share towards the President of the Government, has been evident in the formal events. Both in Milei’s signature in the Community’s honor book, and in the greeting they gave from the balcony of the regional headquarters and the meeting that both had with Ayuso’s chief of staff, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, the secretary general of the presidency of the Argentine Executive and sister of the president, Carina Milei, and the counselor of the Presidency and spokesperson for the Community, Miguel Ángel García.
When it came time for the speeches, however, both have maintained a much calmer tone than usual and without direct references to Sánchez but to the policies deployed by the socialist governments. For her part, the Madrid president has praised the policy that the far-right leader is practicing in her country: “You face with strength and courage measures that sound like fresh air,” she noted before attacking socialism, calling it “totalitarian projects that hate construction, work and respect for freedom of expression, and private property.”
Milei, for his part, has emerged as a visitor who comes from the future to tell Spaniards about “the decadence caused by socialism.” “Social justice is deeply unjust and deeply violent (…) “Do not let the “socialism ruins their lives,” he declared before declaring himself an admirer of her speeches, “who does not miss YouTube,” and for those who “warn of the danger” that lies before her.
Although, without directly questioning Sánchez, he pointed out that “discretion always plays tricks. There are always leaks. There is talk of the porous hands of politicians. Perhaps it is not that of the politician directly, but that of the brother or the partner or whatever, whoever wants to understand that he understands,” added someone who just a month ago described the wife of the President of the Government as “corrupt.”
Julio Hurtado
Ayuso already has her photo. An image that began to be forged several months ago at the initiative of the Argentine president’s entourage, according to Sol sources, but that could not materialize given that the visit that the Argentine leader made to Spain in May was limited exclusively to his participation in the massive rally held by the European extreme right in the pre-campaign of 9-J.
What is not so clear is whether the medal received by Milei has legal value based on the statements made by different members of the Government. The minister spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, directly accused the president of the Community of Madrid of “disloyalty” and “lack of patriotism” for “running to impose a fake medal on someone who insults Spain and its institutions,” in reference to the president. of the Argentine Republic.
Javier Milei and Isabel Díaz Ayuso during the ceremony held in Sol
Dani Duch
In an interview with Antena 3, Alegría recalled that by law the Madrid president should have informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about her intentions. Alegría refers to the decree by which Ayuso has granted the distinction and which was drafted considering that the president has visited the capital on an “official visit to the region.”
The Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Cortes, Félix Bolaños, expressed himself along the same lines, pointing out that the ceremony orchestrated from Puerta del Sol “clearly violates” the State Action and Foreign Service law by not having communicated to Moncloa “as it should by imperative of the norm.”
PSOE and Más Madrid, however, argue that this is not the case given that, during their stay on Spanish soil, they will not meet with the King or anyone from the central government.
The same thing that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, pointed out when emphasizing this Friday that Spain “only has one foreign policy”, which is coordinated with all State institutions, including the Royal House. “Without a doubt it is a private visit, there is nothing official agenda of what I have known so far in that visit,” he summarized in an attempt to settle a controversy that the Argentine delegation ignored by emphasizing the importance of the distinction.
