Argentine President Javier Milei will attend Keiko Fujimori‘s inauguration as president of Peru at noon on Tuesday. Before the ceremony, the two leaders are scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting.
The trip marks Milei’s first international visit since triggering a diplomatic crisis with Brazil on Saturday after insulting President Luiz Incio Lula da Silva during a visit to So Paulo in support of Flvio Bolsonaros presidential nomination.
Milei departed Buenos Aires on Monday night and is scheduled to meet with Fujimori at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Argentina time, less than two hours before her inauguration ceremony, which is set to begin at 12:45 p.m.
Fujimori joins a growing list of right-wing South American leaders backed by Milei, including Chile’s Jos Antonio Kast, Paraguay’s Santiago Pea, Bolivia’s Rodrigo Paz, Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa and Colombian president-elect Abelardo De La Espriella, who is set to take office on August 7.
In early July, after Fujimori’s victory was confirmed, Milei wrote in a post on X that he hoped a “new era” would begin between Argentina and Peru, “two sister nations that are once again joining each other on the path of freedom.”
At the time, Milei said he and Fujimori had agreed during a phone call on “the need for more freedom, economic growth and the fight against transnational organized crime.”
“Peru joins the group of countries in the region that have decided to stand firm against socialism and work together to defend freedom,” he wrote.
In an earlier post, he said Peruvians had “rejected the communist downfall” represented by Fujimori’s rival, Roberto Snchez, and declared “never again to totalitarian socialism.”
After the inauguration, Milei is scheduled to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of San Martn de Porres and deliver an acceptance speech.
Who is Keiko Fujimori Keiko Fujimori, leader of the Fuerza Popular party, is the daughter of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori. Her administration could signal a return to the conservative, market-oriented policies associated with her father’s presidency, which lasted from 1990 to 2000.
Alberto Fujimori spent his final years in prison after being convicted of human rights violations committed during his authoritarian government, including massacres and kidnappings. His daughter has consistently argued that he was wrongfully convicted.
Keiko Fujimori campaigned on a law-and-order platform, pledging to combat violent crime by expanding the armed forces’ role in domestic security.
Her proposals included deploying the military to help control immigration, secure prisons and support police operations.
A right-wing presidents’ group Milei has repeatedly expressed his desire to see a bloc of right-wing leaders emerge in the region, most recently during a convention organized by Brazil’s Libertarian Party on Saturday.
“We came here to accompany the blue wave. I hope we can finally paint the map the way it should be once and for all,” he said at the event, where he endorsed presidential candidate Flvio Bolsonaro the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro who is set to face Lula da Silva in Brazil’s October 4 election.
During the same speech, Milei called Da Silva a “thief,” a “convict” and a “totalitarian.” The remarks prompted Brazil’s Foreign Ministry to recall its ambassador from Buenos Aires and summon Argentina’s ambassador to Brazil, Daniel Raimondi, to explain Milei’s comments.
“There is no precedent for a foreign president who, while on Brazilian soil, has repeatedly committed acts of aggression and hurled insults against the Head of State, democratic institutions including the judiciary and the Brazilian people,” the ministry said.