Who is Argentina President Javier Milei, the new-found friend of Elon Musk in Latin America?
Elon Musk is also showering praise on another leader¡ªJavier Milei, the President of Argentina. "President Milei is doing an incredible job restoring Argentina to greatness!" Musk said in an X post last week.
Elon Musk is at war with Latin America¡ªwell, not literally. But in recent weeks, he has been engaging in a war of words with a Brazilian Supreme Court judge, Justice Alexandre de Moraes, and even accepted a challenge by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro for a fight.
Elon Musk praises Javier Milei
This doesn't mean that the world's richest man has no allies in South America. While he is locking horns with the powers in Brazil and Venezuela on X, Musk is also showering praise on another leader¡ªJavier Milei, the President of Argentina.
"President Milei is doing an incredible job restoring Argentina to greatness!" Musk said in an X post last week, to which the Argentine President responded by saying, "Thank you very much for your words."
President @JMilei is doing an incredible job restoring Argentina to greatness!
¡ª Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 2, 2024
The conversation further continued with Musk saying: "You are most welcome! The example you are setting with Argentina will be a helpful model for the rest of the world," and Milei replied: "EXACTLY...!!! We work to show the world that embracing the ideas of freedom brings prosperity."
On Friday, Musk reposted a post saying: "Milei is bringing prosperity to Argentina."
Milei is bringing prosperity to Argentina https://t.co/AjUCKvRoq2
¡ª Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 5, 2024
Growing proximity between Musk, Milei
The Milei-Musk bromance did not happen out of the blue and has been blooming for some time.
Milei, a Libertarian who is a self-declared anarcho-capitalist and obsessed with destroying state controls, met Musk earlier this year at Tesla's factory in Texas.
El Presidente Javier Milei mantuvo una reuni¨®n con el Sr. Elon Musk en Texas, Estados Unidos. pic.twitter.com/vUJXJqib6A
¡ª Oficina del Presidente (@OPRArgentina) April 12, 2024
Who is Javier Milei
Fifty-three-year-old Milei started as an economist and educator before his political career. As an outsider in politics, Milei made a name for himself as an anti-establishment politician.
CREDIT: AP
He ran a campaign that promised to revive the Argentine economy, with several populist announcements that catapulted him to the country's top job in November 2023. Milei has advocated for the reduction of government control and the easing of regulations to revive the country's economy.
CREDIT: REUTERS
Why Musk wants to get closer to Milei
Many believe that Musk is getting closer to Milei for lithium, a key component for his Tesla EV batteries. As of May 2024, Argentina has 3.6 million metric tons of lithium reserves and is the fourth largest lithium producer in the world.
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Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
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