Spain takes unprecedented step of recalling its ambassador to Argentina
Date
5/23/2024 4:12:19 AM
(MENAFN) Spain has taken the unprecedented step of recalling its ambassador to Argentina, following inflammatory comments made by Argentine President Javier Milei about the wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. The diplomatic tension erupted after Milei, during a rally in Madrid organized by the far-right Spanish Vox party, labeled Begona Gomez as "corrupt" and launched a scathing attack on socialism, describing it as "cursed and carcinogenic."
The situation was further aggravated by the fact that a Madrid court had initiated an investigation into Gomez's alleged involvement in influence-peddling and corruption just last month. The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, led by her husband Pedro Sanchez, is also under scrutiny.
During his speech, Milei criticized global elites for their endorsement of socialism, implying that they fail to recognize its destructive potential. He suggested that the corruption allegations against Gomez have sullied her reputation, referencing the five-day hiatus from public duties taken by Sanchez in response to the accusations. "The global elites don’t realize how destructive it can be to implement the ideas of socialism... even if you have the corrupt wife, let’s say, it gets dirty, and you take five days to think about it," Milei remarked. He concluded his tirade by urging his audience to reject socialism, which he described in starkly negative terms: "Let us not let the dark, black, satanic, atrocious, horrible carcinogenic side that is socialism prevail over us."
The comments prompted a swift and severe reaction from Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares, who demanded a public apology from Milei. Albares condemned the Argentine president's remarks, stating that they have plunged Spanish-Argentine relations to their lowest point in recent history.
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