President of Argentina Javier Milei is in Silicon Valley this week to meet CEOs of Apple, OpenAI, Google and Meta, marking the libertarian president’s fourth trip to the US as he aims to foster international connections after his election.
He also seeks to build hype for his economic reforms.
According to Milei’s spokesperson, the tour is designed to “position Argentina in the world once again.”
The trip comes on the heels of Milei’s April meeting with Tesla CEO Elon Musk in Texas, where they discussed Argentina’s lithium reserves—a key component in electric vehicle battery production.
Milei took office in December, and by the end of June, he would have covered eight foreign tours—a record among Argentine presidents. None of his tours have been within South America, per Financial Times.
Opposition is unhappy
Milei’s travels abroad have received criticism from the opposition. Three lawmakers have asked police to investigate if he used public funds to take a personal trip to Spain.
His critics are skeptical if his travels will bring foreign investment into the country, which is witnessing its worst economic crisis in 20 years. Annual inflation was at 289% in April.
Is his approach working?
Last November, Milei won a run-off vote in Argentina. He slashed spending to bring down inflation. But experts worry that Argentinians are feeling the pinch of rising costs.
Though the country saw inflation rise at a rate of 8.8% in April, marking the first single-digit rate rise in half a year, it is below the predicted 9% and down for the fourth straight month since a peak of over 25% in December. However, experts say that falling inflation isn’t always a good thing. It could point to a recession.