Milei all the time flirts with this phrase, which the consultant Catterberg said in 2021. On his networks he uploaded a US patent that had his slogan.
Javier Milei was obsessed with meeting Donald Trump. He is a role model for him and he likes to see himself in the mirror: someone who did not come from the world of politics and who ended up as president, after a media career that turned him into a popular phenomenon. Perhaps it is simply pure and simple cholulism. The truth is that the libertarian, congratulated by Trump on the day he won the elections, had tried in various ways to arrange that meeting.
During his visit to the United States in November of last year, as President-elect, Milei had weighed in on the issue: he wanted to take advantage of the trip to speak with his representative, and there were even surveys to study the logistics of that long-awaited meeting. It took a lot for his team to convince him that it was a very bad idea to visit the former president – who still does not recognize the 2020 electoral defeat – under the nose of Joe Biden, and that this could complicate the bilateral relationship.
But now the libertarian made his dream come true. Backstage at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Milei finally met Trump. “Mister President,” she greeted him, in rustic English, as she tried to hug him, in what seemed to be an awkward moment. But although in Argentina what she bounced off of was that image, the CPAC is far from being a superficial fact. It is the think tank of the new global right.
Long live freedom? “When Milei and Villarruel were more ‘on the margins’ in Argentina, these organizational structures like CPAC gave them a sense of belonging and participation at an international level,” explains sociologist Ariel Goldstein. “Belonging to these organizations provides a vision of the world, it is not just a formal matter. It should be noted that Milei already participated in the CPAC in Mexico in 2022. The characteristic is that CPAC, which was born in the United States, has been exported to other countries recently such as Japan, Israel and Brazil, in line with the growth of the radical right,” says the author of “The authoritarian reconquest” and of ” “Bolsonaro, Brazil’s democracy in danger.”
The main objective of the CPAC has always been to impose agendas, lobby or influence the minds of influential leaders, such as Milei. The American Conservative Union created the forum in 1964 for that purpose. Since then they have been promoting issues such as the free carrying of weapons, the rejection of immigration and abortion, and the defense of “traditional values”, while building bridges to all branches of the red circle, from leaders to businessmen and journalists.
Trump’s appearance in 2016, however, somewhat changed the face of the event, which has revolved around him ever since. And from his speech, increasingly radicalized. “Welcome to the end of democracy, we are here to overthrow it completely,” Jack Posobiec, spokesman for a Trump-aligned political space, said at the conference. It was not the only extreme presence at the event: in this edition a stand was given to the John Birch Society, a far-right group that had been banned from CPAC for 12 years for its controversial positions, such as defending racial discrimination. It seems that times are changing.
But it did not stay there. Steve Bannon, Trump’s black monk – who in conversation with journalist Juan Elman said that Milei “is fantastic” and that “they loved him” – gave a fiery speech in which he denied the legitimacy of the elections in which Biden won and He assured that it was Trump who “had won.” Nayib Bukele – who had a fleeting one-on-one with Patricia Bullrich – and Santiago Abascal from Vox – who criticized abortion, euthanasia, immigration, environmentalism, the 2030 agenda and, above all, socialism – also spoke at the forum. and Trump himself, who attacked, among other targets, the media, George Soros and immigration. These are Milei’s friends.
