President Javier Milei of Argentina introduced plans to withdraw his nation from the World Well being Group on Wednesday, the newest in a collection of strikes by Mr. Milei that mimic President Trump’s efforts to interrupt with worldwide norms and alliances.
“We’ll always remember that they had been the architects of the draconian lockdowns,” Mr. Milei wrote on X, referring to the W.H.O.’s assist for broad quarantines in the course of the pandemic. He known as the lockdowns “one of the vital egregious crimes in opposition to humanity in historical past.”
“That’s why we’ve determined to withdraw from such a nefarious group,” he added, “which acted because the enforcement arm of the biggest social management experiment in historical past.”
President Trump signed an order to withdraw the USA from the W.H.O. within the first hours of his presidency, equally criticizing the United Nations company’s dealing with of the pandemic and the price of being a member. Mr. Milei has lengthy criticized the W.H.O. — even writing a ebook condemning pandemic insurance policies in 2020 — however he solely determined to drag out of the group weeks after Mr. Trump did the identical.
If the USA and Argentina comply with by way of on their plans, they’ll be part of Liechtenstein as the one U.N. member nations that aren’t additionally members of the U.N.’s world well being alliance.
That displays Mr. Milei’s effort to align his nation with Mr. Trump’s scorched-earth strategy to the worldwide order, even when it comes on the expense of Argentina’s earlier allies and partnerships.
Mr. Milei’s spokesman mentioned Wednesday that Argentina has additionally been inspecting whether or not to withdraw from the Paris Settlement, the principle world pact to fight local weather change, like the USA did final month. Mr. Milei, like President Trump, has publicly doubted the science displaying that human exercise is dangerously warming the planet.
Shortly after changing into president in 2023, Mr. Milei canceled Argentina’s plans to hitch the BRICS financial alliance led by China, saying he as an alternative wished to maneuver his nation nearer to the USA.
Leaving the W.H.O. might find yourself costing Argentina, which is struggling below tens of billions of {dollars} of worldwide debt.
Not like the USA, which contributes roughly 15 p.c of the group’s $6.8 billion finances over two years, Argentina pays a a lot smaller membership price, estimated at about $10 million a 12 months by the Argentine information group La Nación.
The advantages Argentina receives from membership far outweigh the price, together with monitoring of outbreaks, illness prevention and sharing of know-how, mentioned Leandro Cahn, director of Fundación Huésped, a big public well being group in Argentina. “The issues the Argentine well being system has received’t be resolved by not being a part of the W.H.O.,” he mentioned.
Mr. Milei’s workplace mentioned Argentina would stay a member of the Pan-American Well being Group. Mr. Cahn mentioned which will allow the nation to nonetheless obtain deep reductions on vaccines and medicines that W.H.O. members obtain, but it surely was unclear.
Whereas Mr. Milei has tamed Argentina’s excessive inflation, the nation stays in a precarious monetary state of affairs. Mr. Milei has recommended that Argentina will want further loans from the Worldwide Financial Fund. The US is the I.M.F.’s largest and most influential contributor.
Amid that backdrop, Mr. Milei has positioned himself as maybe Mr. Trump’s most dependable ally on the worldwide stage. He was one among two world leaders, together with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy, behind Mr. Trump when he was sworn in as president final month. And Mr. Milei plans to journey to the USA this month to talk on the Conservative Political Motion Convention forward of President Trump.
Mr. Milei and Mr. Trump see eye to eye on many matters, most prominently that “woke” ideology threatens Western society. Mr. Milei gave a speech on the World Financial Discussion board in Davos, Switzerland, final month that sharply criticized insurance policies that search to assist or defend individuals primarily based on their gender, race or sexuality.
“The good anvil that seems as a standard denominator in failing nations and establishments is the woke thoughts virus,” he mentioned within the speech, imitating language from the billionaire Elon Musk. “That is the good epidemic of our time.”
He cited “feminism, range, inclusion, fairness, immigration, abortion, environmentalism, gender ideology,” as problematic penalties of “wokeness.” He added that oldsters who assist younger youngsters transition to totally different genders are “pedophiles” committing abuse. His feedback in opposition to homosexual and transgender rights prompted giant protests final week throughout Argentina.
Each Mr. Trump and Mr. Milei have banned gender-neutral language and plenty of range insurance policies from authorities.
Mr. Milei made these strikes earlier than Mr. Trump returned as president. Mr. Musk and others have additionally credited Mr. Milei as an inspiration for the Trump administration’s work — led by Mr. Musk — to drastically slash the scale of the U.S. authorities. Mr. Milei has carried out an identical effort in Argentina and is anticipated to quickly unveil plans for a second section that will eradicate or mix 50 state businesses.
In different methods, it seems that Mr. Milei is taking cues from Mr. Trump. Mr. Milei and his ministers have not too long ago sharpened their rhetoric in opposition to migrants. Mr. Milei’s spokesman, Manuel Adorni, mentioned Wednesday that the federal government was engaged on new immigration legal guidelines “and safer borders.”
Final month, an Argentine governor introduced plans to construct a 200-meter-long wall alongside a piece of Argentina’s border with Bolivia that officers mentioned is ceaselessly crossed illegally. Mr. Milei posted the information on X, noting, “Wonderful.”
Natalie Alcoba and Lucía Cholakian Herrera contributed reporting from Buenos Aires.