Macri and Karina Milei's Initial Talks Began With Different Priorities

The rapprochement, previously promoted by delegates from both sides, is an implicit — and perhaps explicit — acceptance that the government no longer feels the electoral security it had after the October elections. In the southern spring of last year, the Milei brothers misread their victory. President Javier Milei believed his national win was due to Karina's political acumen — a claim he stated openly.

They never analyzed that Donald Trump had decisively intervened by effectively pressuring Argentine society, offering a $20 billion loan only if Milei won, along with Buenos Aires Governor Axel Kicillof's decision to move up provincial elections. Kicillof won those provincial contests handily, economic stability began to wobble, and amid what seemed like an inexorable shipwreck, Trump promised that conditional aid. A month and a half later, Milei also won the national elections broadly. His voters were united more by fear than love, to paraphrase Jorge Luis Borges.