Argentina was the only member country of the United Nations to vote against a draft resolution on Indigenous Peoples’ rights aimed at preserving their spiritual beliefs, ancestral knowledge, and languages.

This is the first Argentine vote in a UN meeting since Gerardo Werthein was appointed as foreign minister by President Javier Milei two weeks ago. The explicit goal of his appointment was to carry out an international stance more aligned with the United States and Israel. Werthein had served as Milei’s Ambassador to the U.S. until then.

The U.S., however, voted for this resolution, and the Israeli representative was absent.

Milei dismissed Diana Mondino as foreign minister after Argentina voted against the United States trade embargo on Cuba in the United Nations General Assembly. That non-binding UN resolution garnered support from 187 countries, with only the United States and Israel voting against it.

Now, Argentina was the only country to reject the Rights of Indigenous Peoples resolution. In this case, 168 voted for it while seven others abstained (Bulgaria, France, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lithuania, Mali, Romania, and Slovenia).

The resolution strives to promote the protection of the Indigenous communities’ rights regarding justice, the environment, and the preservation of their beliefs and culture.

According to a UN press release on the meeting, Argentina’s representative opposed some terminology as “ambiguous and broad.” They went on to say that the draft does not sufficiently guarantee Indigenous Peoples universal rights without discrimination and that “ancestral practices can lead to the validation of practices that are at odds with the fundamental rights of women and girls, the right to health and access to scientific progress.”

The release also mentioned complaints from other countries regarding Argentina’s behavior without directly mentioning it. “Many delegations voiced regret that one country called for a vote on the resolution as the delegation had not objected to the text during its preparation,” the UN release added. It also said that the compounding was aggravated by the fact that the draft had previously been approved by consensus.

According to media outlet La Nación, Argentina’s representative before the UN Andrea Repetti said that “Argentina favors the protection of the Indigenous Peoples’ rights in their diverse cultural traditions” but considers that the document does not “sufficiently guarantee [their] access to human rights without discrimination.”