Argentiniens Präsident Milei tritt in Trumps Fußstapfen und verlässt die WHO
Javier Milei has once again expressed his appreciation for the new President of the United States, Donald Trump, and has decided to follow in the footsteps of the tycoon. The President recently withdrew Argentina from the World Health Organization (WHO), just as Trump did immediately after taking office.
According to El País, government spokesman Manuel Adorni said at a press conference in the Casa Rosada that the withdrawal from the World Health Organization was based on "profound disagreements in health management, particularly with regard to the [coronavirus] pandemic."
According to elDiario.es, the spokesman also accused the previous president, Alberto Fernández, of following the WHO's recommendations at the time. "Together with the government of Alberto Fernández (2019-2023), they have led us into the longest lockdown in human history and led us into a lack of independence from the political influence of some states."
And he concluded: "Argentines will not allow an international organization to interfere in our sovereignty, let alone our health."
President Milei was not quite so political and explained his decision on his social media pages: "We have decided to leave such a nefarious organization that was the executive arm of the largest experiment in social control in history."
According to Adorni, quoted by Clarín, leaving the WHO "gives the country greater flexibility in implementing policies adapted to the context of interests that Argentina needs, greater availability of resources and reaffirms our path of sovereignty also in health matters."
However, experts are already questioning the president's decision. Molecular biologist and biotechnologist Ernesto Resnik explained in an interview with radio station 750, quoted by Página 12, that this step was based on false and erroneous data.
For Resnik, the WHO plays "a fundamental role in monitoring health problems in countries," which makes it possible to anticipate health situations that may vary from country to country. "The role of the WHO and the benefits for countries like Argentina far outweigh the costs," he said.
Resnik also said there is no reliable data to suggest that the country has undergone the longest quarantine in the world or even in "human history," as the government claims. For him, this is merely a political decision to mark Milei's submission to Trump.
Infobae reports that Milei wants to withdraw Argentina from the Paris Agreement after leaving the WHO. In an interview with a French media outlet, the president explained his decision: "I am not adhering to the environmental agenda, which seems to me to be a real fraud. The way in which climate change is being talked about today is completely wrong."