Diego Guelar addressed the conflict between the Argentine National Team and France over offensive chants by the players following their Copa América victory: “All that needed to be done was to apologize.” Guelar also emphasized the importance of maintaining international relations as “a reflection of national relations” and noted that Javier Milei should start “correcting” his tendency to focus heavily on ideology and personal issues. “To err is human, but to correct is wise,” he said on Modo Fontevecchia, broadcast on Net TV, Radio Perfil (AM 1190), and Radio Amadeus (FM 91.1).
Diego Guelar is a lawyer and has served as Argentina’s ambassador to China, the United States, Brazil, and the European Union.
Alejandro Gomel: Regarding the conflict between the Argentine National Team and France over the fan chants and Karina Milei’s visit to the French embassy to apologize for Victoria Villarruel’s tweets, how do you see this affecting the relationship with France?
This doesn’t sit well with authoritarians.
The exercise of professional and critical journalism is a cornerstone of democracy. That’s why it bothers those who believe they hold the ultimate truth.
I believe Enzo Fernández was an exceptional ambassador from a sporting and diplomatic perspective. He was the first to react and apologize. We all know that stadium chants in Argentina and around the world are often homophobic, offensive, and mix sports with nationalism. This isn’t to justify them, but to state a fact that we all know, have heard, and sometimes even shared ourselves. The logical step was to apologize and close the episode. However, confusion arose when the Deputy Secretary of Sports expressed this sentiment and was subsequently fired, along with comments from the Vice President and some deputies who believed they had to defend the team. The only thing needed here was an apology.
Ultimately, if the apology came from the General Secretary of the Presidency, it’s welcome because the matter needed to be resolved. We already have enough open fronts without adding a conflict with France.
Victoria Villarruel’s comment on France’s displeasure over the offensive chants of the Argentine National Team escalated the issue. Enzo Fernández’s apology seemed to settle the matter, but then the Vice President called France a colonialist country, which further intensified the conflict.
Yes, it also escalated when the Deputy Secretary of Sports was fired. Confusion was created as the Vice President followed the President’s lead in dismissing the secretary. This was later rectified by the General Secretary, who managed to calm things down. Common sense usually trumps reiterating mistakes.
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AG: The Foreign Ministry was notably absent in this situation. Wouldn’t it have been more logical for the Foreign Minister to intervene?
Yes, but that’s not what happened.
Elizabeth Peger: Are you concerned about the government’s handling of international relations?
I believe there are two aspects to international relations. They reflect national relations and are an important part of national policy. What has garnered significant attention and admiration for Milei are the measures taken to control the risk of hyperinflation. This could have been a total catastrophe, and the decisions to reduce public spending and emission have had a significant impact, reducing inflation from 25% to 4%, a substantial achievement in stabilizing the economy. This is real foreign policy and has had a positive impact.
The rest, generating conflicts, contradicts the primary achievement of foreign policy: restoring a degree of trust in Argentina. Diplomatic gestures should align with substantive policies to avoid creating conflicts and instead work to resolve them with minimal negative impact on international relations.
Milei’s tendency to emphasize ideology and personal aspects needs correction. He has already begun this with regards to the Pope and China, and hopefully, it will continue with Brazil. To err is human, but to correct is wise, and it’s good to see mistakes being corrected.
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Elizabeth Peger: Doesn’t this second wave of international relations conflicts with Spain, Lula, and Bolivia tarnish the efforts?
I agree, and it needs ongoing revision. The President is gradually addressing it, and the sooner, the better, because it jeopardizes everything we aspire to: stabilizing the process for growth to follow. Beyond austerity measures, we need investments and fluid international relations, resolving these conflicts to avoid uncertainty.
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EP: Recently, there has been significant interest in the appointment of lawyer Basset to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, known to be close to presidential advisor Santiago Caputo and Karina Milei, especially after her participation in the latest OAS summit. Argentina has distanced itself from historically clear political stances. What’s happening here? Is there interference?
That’s what’s being said. These non-institutional procedures disrupt institutional functioning. I believe in institutional functioning and see this anti-globalist trend as a step backward. The world is increasingly interconnected. The most problematic countries are inherently anti-globalist like Iran and North Korea, which operate outside global norms. I support globalism because reinforcing international norms is essential, especially for medium and small countries, against the power of militarily strong nations like the United States and China. Most countries must uphold the system of norms for protection. Anti-globalist trends misinterpret globalism as left-wing or communist. In reality, globalism is necessary and beneficial for the majority of countries. The most powerful nations are the ones that can afford to ignore these norms.
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Claudio Mardones: International sections of all newspapers couldn’t catch up with the biggest news in the U.S. election arena last night: Donald Trump accepted the Republican nomination for president. What do you think will happen with Joe Biden?
It’s unclear. Traditionally, the only way Biden could step down, besides waiting for the party convention on August 19, is by resignation, which he said he wouldn’t do unless advised by a doctor. Ultimately, it’s an abstract consideration since it’s up to him whether to make such medical advice public. This confusion strengthens Trump’s candidacy chances.
