Buenos Aires Herald 
President Javier Milei has traded insults with his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolás Maduro, who had called him a “fatal mistake for Argentine history.”
The presidents lie at opposite ends of the ideological spectrum — but both are known for their bellicose styles.
“The impoverishing socialist Maduro saying I’m a historical mistake in Latin America confirms I’m headed in the right direction,” Milei posted on X Tuesday during a layover in Frankfurt on his way to Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum meeting.
“I wasn’t expecting such a compliment!,” Milei wrote, adding his catchphrase “long live freedom, dammit.”
He shared his comments alongside a video of Maduro speaking at the Venezuelan Parliament, where he dedicated a few minutes to talk directly to Milei.
“Milei, you were installed [as president of] Argentina so you could destroy the rule of law, the state, social rights and the national economy,” Maduro said on Monday.
Maduro also accused him of being servile to the United States and wanting to “colonize Argentina to deliver it on its knees to North American imperialism.”
“That is not the way, Milei. You are wrong,” the Venezuelan leader said. “You are a mistake in Argentine and Latin American history.”
Milei’s feud with Maduro is not new. Last September, Milei called him a “murderous communist” and a dictator, along with Cuban politician Raúl Castro, while saying that Pope Francis “is a political player” that has shown affinity for them.
After November’s run-off in Argentina, Maduro said “the neo-Nazi far-right won in Argentina,” referring to Milei. “Argentines, you have chosen, but we will not remain silent,” he said during his weekly show on Venezuela’s public TV channel.
At the time, Maduro said Milei’s political platform was “absolutely colonialist” and that he “wants to bring back to the continent the ultra-neoliberal plan from the 1970s established with the […] Chilean, Argentine and Uruguayan coups.”
