Link to article: https://www.reuters.com/world/argentinas-milei-criticizes-leviathan-un-speech-pledges-agenda-freedom-2024-09-24/
During the 79th United Nations General Assembly on September 24, 2024, Argentinian president Javier Milei gave a speech that left representatives without words. Milei compared the UN’s restrictions and models to a “Leviathan”, which is a mythological sea monster. He criticized them further by saying when their plans for humans don’t work, “they repress, restrict, and curtail their freedom.” Furthermore, he called the UN “powerless” and its new ‘Pact for the Future’ was described by him as “socialist”. Milei has been upset because the Argentinian government has been battling economic and overall stability issues for years and hasn’t had much success.
Milei certainly isn’t making any friends with his speech. Denouncing UN plans seems to be a trend, as I remember writing about Brazilian president Lula and his speech at this same General Assembly. I think he also came out and called the UN powerless. Apparently Latin America is pissed off at the world. As for Milei, I respect his decision to try to spark change in how the UN is run, but he probably should have spent more time talking about how to fix it instead of uninspired name-calling. He won’t get any foreign aid at this rate.
This relates to class because we can analyze why Milei gave this fiery speech on multiple levels. Starting with the global level, the world is currently shifting from a unipolar system to a multipolar system, so he might want to influence some representatives of countries rising to power in this new system. On the regional level, Argentina is among many unstable Latin American countries who are still trying to make a name for themselves on the international scale, and Milei might want his country to be one of the first from the region. On the domestic level, Argentina has been struggling economically for a while, and Milei wants to be the president that brings them out of the deficit and become a national hero. Finally, on the individual scale, Milei has a track record of clashing with political opponents, even going as far as calling Argentinian native Pope Francis a communist. He, like many other world leaders, seems to be a narcissist who shares what he thinks without regard for the people around him, which is evident in his speech.