Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, has sacked his foreign minister, Diana Mondino, after the country voted in favour of lifting the US economic embargo on Cuba at the United Nations.
Argentina was one of 187 countries that supported the non-binding UN resolution on Wednesday. Only the US and Israel voted to oppose the resolution.
It was the first time since Milei’s arrival in office that Argentina has not aligned itself with the US and Israeli governments.
Mondino has been replaced by the ambassador to Washington, Gerardo Werthein. Following the move, President Milei’s office said Argentina was “categorically opposed to the Cuban dictatorship”.
Under the previous left-wing Peronist government, Argentina enjoyed close relations with Cuba, backing the end of the economic embargo, which the US imposed in the 1960s when Cuba adopted communism.
Cuba has, in exchange, consistently supported Argentina’s claims of sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory. Britain and Argentina waged a brief but bitter war over the territory in 1982.
President Milei’s office later issued a statement intended to outline the political vision behind his foreign policy.
“The country is going through a period of profound changes and this new stage requires that our diplomatic corps reflect in each decision the values of freedom, sovereignty and individual rights that characterise Western democracies,” it said.
The statement went on: “Our country is categorically opposed to the Cuban dictatorship and will remain firm in promoting a foreign policy that condemns all regimes that perpetrate human rights violations.”
Friction had been growing between the president and the foreign ministry over a range of issues in recent months, observers say.
However, Mondino was seen as important to Argentina’s public image abroad, often stepping in to defuse tensions after confrontational statements made by Milei had upset other nations.
The US trade embargo was first imposed in 1962 in the wake of the revolution in Cuba, which swept Fidel Castro to power.
Washington wanted to force the island to reject Castro’s socialist policies and embrace capitalism and democracy.
However, the embargo has failed to achieve that objective and has become a bone of contention between Washington and its neighbours in the region.
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