REUTERS:
Argentina's Milei says Spain's Sanchez brings 'death and poverty' after drug use jibeMADRID, May 4 (Reuters) - Madrid and Buenos Aires traded barbs on Saturday after Spanish Transport Minister Oscar Puente suggested Argentina's President Javier Milei was a drug user.
Puente, during a panel discussion in Salamanca on Friday, suggested Milei had ingested "substances" during last year's election campaign.
Milei's office released a statement on Saturday condemning the remarks while also attacking Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
It accused Sanchez of "endangering Spanish women by allowing illegal immigration" and undermining Spain's integrity by making deals with separatists, while his leftist policies brought "death and poverty".
That provoked a rebuke from the Spanish Foreign Ministry, which said the terms used in the Argentine statement "do not correspond to the relations between the two brotherly countries and peoples".
BBC:
Spain-Argentina row over drug-use accusationThe row started on Friday when Mr Puente was speaking during a panel discussion organised by his Spanish Socialist Workers' Party.
"There are very bad people who, just being themselves, have reached the top. Milei, for instance. Trump," he told attendees.
Referring to the Argentine president appearing on TV during his election campaign last year, he said he did not know what state Mr Milei was in - "prior to ingestion or after ingestion" of substances.
In its response, Mr Milei's office said Spain had more important things to deal with, like the corruption accusations against Mr Sánchez's wife - which Madrid's public prosecutor has said should be shelved for lack of evidence.
The statement went on to say the prime minister's Socialist policies had brought "death and poverty" to Spaniards, "endangered women by allowing illegal immigrants who attacked them" and undermined Spain's integrity by making deals with separatists - a reference to the coalition government with Catalonia's largest separatist party.
In turn, the Spanish foreign ministry has issued a statement in which it "rejects the unfounded words" which "do not correspond to the relations between the two brotherly countries and peoples".
Mr Milei has publicly supported Spain's far-right anti-immigration Vox party.
He is due to visit Spain in two weeks' to attend the launch of Vox's European election campaign, newspaper El Pais reported.
Mr Milei has a history of spats with other world leaders.
He has described Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as an "angry communist" and corrupt, and called Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador "ignorant".
He also called the Colombian President Gustavo Petro "a terrorist murderer" referring to him being a past member of a guerilla group.
The insult caused Colombia to expel a number of Argentine diplomats in response.
IMO, both sides are wrong, Spanish minister shouldn’t have said it but Milei also largely overreacted by extending criticism for what one individual Spanish minister said to Sanchez more personally and his government itself.
As the news say, it’s not the first time Milei goes full berserk with leaders with ideologies he disagrees with, which leads me to believe he’s also ideologically politicizing the situation.
But, who is less wrong here?
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