Milei and Kast Meet in Buenos Aires to Bolster Alliance

On Monday, President Javier Milei received his Chilean counterpart, José Antonio Kast, at the Casa Rosada. This marked the first official trip abroad for the Chilean leader since he took office on March 11. The meeting aimed to consolidate a political alliance in the region between two presidents who are ideologically close and both hold positions aligned with the government of Donald Trump in the United States. Kast's visit to Argentina reinforces a diplomatic tradition between the two countries: Chilean presidents typically choose Buenos Aires as their first international destination after assuming office. This was also the case with Gabriel Boric, who visited Buenos Aires a few weeks after beginning his mandate during Alberto Fernández's presidency. The meeting between Milei and Kast initiates a bilateral stage of coincidences that leaves behind the tensions that characterized relations between the two governments during Boric's center-left presidency in Chile. Both Milei and Kast hold a position in defense of liberal economic vision and agree on issues such as immigration, security, and reduction of the state apparatus, and they participate in the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Kast arrived in Argentina on Sunday night as part of a delegation that included Foreign Minister Francisco Pérez Mackenna; Minister of Public Security, Trinidad Steinert; Minister of Public Works, Martín Arrau; Undersecretary of International Economic Relations, Paula Estévez; and leader of the Independent Democratic Unity (UDI) party, Juan Antonio Coloma.