Milei meets Pope Leo, confirms visit to Argentina
Pope Leo XIV meets with Argentina's President Javier Milei at the Vatican, June 7, 2025. Vatican Media/Mario Tomassetti/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.
Pope Leo XIV poses for pictures with Argentina's President Javier Milei at the Vatican, June 7, 2025. Vatican Media/Mario Tomassetti/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.
Pope Leo XIV meets with Argentina's President Javier Milei at the Vatican, June 7, 2025. Vatican Media/Mario Tomassetti/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.
Pope Leo XIV meets with Argentina's President Javier Milei and his sister, Argentina's General Secretary of the Presidency, Karina Milei at the Vatican, June 7, 2025. Vatican Media/Mario Tomassetti/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.
Pope Leo XIV meets with Argentina's President Javier Milei at the Vatican, June 7, 2025. Vatican Media/Mario Tomassetti/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.
BUENOS AIRES - Argentina's President Javier Milei held his first official audience with Pope Leo at the Vatican on Saturday where he confirmed that the pontiff will visit the South American country, according to the presidential spokesman.
No further details of the planned visit were disclosed on Saturday.
Milei had a tense relationship with Pope Francis, the late Argentine pope who never returned to his native country during his 12-year papacy, potentially signaling the start of a new diplomatic chapter.
"The Pope confirmed to the President during our recent meeting that he will visit Argentina," Manuel Adorni, the presidential spokesperson wrote via social media.
The papal visit could take place as soon as next year, according to Argentina's daily newspaper La Nación, as part of a tour that would include stops in Uruguay and Peru, where Leo, the first U.S. pope, resided for nearly 20 years.
Milei, a libertarian and ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, was not present at the inauguration ceremony of the new head of the Catholic Church due to local legislative elections he was required to attend.
Discussions between the two parties on Saturday were described as "cordial" and addressed issues of "common interest such as socioeconomic progress, the fight against poverty, and the commitment to social cohesion, in addition to addressing ongoing conflicts," the Vatican later said in a statement.
Milei met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday in Rome as part of his visit, where an agreement between Italian energy group Eni and Argentina's state-owned energy firm YPF was signed. REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
41 minutes ago
- Straits Times
WorldPride parade-goers march through Washington in defiance of Trump
Members of Gay Men's Choruses around the country, take part in the WorldPride parade in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 7, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis People take part in the WorldPride parade in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 7, 2025. REUTERS/Gabriel V. Cardenas People take part in the WorldPride parade in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 7, 2025. REUTERS/Gabriel V. Cardenas Members from the DC Public Schools group marching in the parade, sort pride flags for distribution, ahead of the WorldPride parade in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 7, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis A person wearing a costume pulls a cart with an animal figure, during the WorldPride parade in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 7, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis Members of Gay Men's Choruses around the country, take part in the WorldPride parade in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 7, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis WASHINGTON - LGBTQ+ people and supporters from around the world marched through the streets of Washington on Saturday with a mixture of joyful celebration and a show of defiance in the face of President Donald Trump's rollback of queer rights. The parade route passed within one block of the White House grounds in one of the final main events of the weeks-long WorldPride celebration, as revelers waved rainbow flags, including one stretching several blocks long, and danced to pulsating beats. On Sunday a more political event, dubbed a rally and march, will convene at the Lincoln Memorial, a revered space in the U.S. civil rights movement as the site of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963. Since returning to office in January, Trump has issued executive orders limiting transgender rights, banning transgender people from serving in the armed forces, and rescinding anti-discrimination policies for LGBTQ+ people as part of a campaign to repeal diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Thousands lined the parade route, marched or gathered for a festival on Pennsylvania Avenue with the U.S. Capitol in the background. Neither parade organizers nor police in the District of Columbia estimated the size of the crowd. Parade-goers pledged to preserve remaining rights and fight the Republican president's agenda. "We're going backwards," said Patricia Johnson, 70, who works for a nonprofit group supporting seniors in Washington. "But never give up hope." As the Pride Month of June began, the U.S. Navy took steps to rename an oil tanker that had been named after slain gay rights activist Harvey Milk, in the Pentagon's latest measure against diversity, equity and inclusion programs. "That pissed me off more than anything. Harvey Milk is one of our heroes," said Mike Brubaker, a retired business analyst from Long Beach, California. While proponents of DEI consider it necessary to correct historic inequities, the White House has described it as a form of discrimination based on race or gender, and said its transgender policy protects women by keeping transgender women out of shared spaces. Moreover, the White House said it has appointed a number of openly gay people to cabinet posts or judgeships, and noted that the Trump administration took steps to decriminalize homosexuality globally, and that its 2019 initiative "Ending the HIV Epidemic" aimed to cut HIV infections by 90% by 2030. "The President is honored to serve all Americans," White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said in a statement. 'LET THEM SERVE' Parade organizers gave prominent space near the head of the parade to displays of patriotism including military veterans with the banner "Operation Resist" and a group carrying flags for each branch of the armed forces with signs reading, "Let them serve." Washington's Metropolitan Police Department had its own contingent marching in the parade, as did the district's fire department, carrying a sign that said, "Fire doesn't discriminate. Neither do we." The parade route was lined with members of the LGBTQ+ community and allies like Carrie Blanton, a 58-year-old school teacher from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, who was attending her first event for LGBTQ+ rights, saying her religious beliefs previously kept her from showing support. "I wanted to grow as a Christian and realized my own hard-heartedness. This is a way to give back to the community for having been so cold-hearted in the past. God is here for everyone," said Blanton, who voted for Trump in the 2024 presidential election and for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in 2020. Lisa Tusick, 62, an accounting clerk from Delaware, said she feared how far Trump may go. "He started with trans kids and he's going to keep going until he gets rid of gay marriage," Tusick said. "We don't want to think about it too much. We just want to enjoy the day." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
4 hours ago
- Straits Times
Trump says US justice department, not him, made decision to bring back Abrego Garcia
Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a 29-year-old Salvadoran whose wife, Ms Jennifer Vasquez Sura (above), and young child are US citizens. PHOTO: REUTERS Trump says US justice department, not him, made decision to bring back Abrego Garcia WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said on June 7 it was the Department of Justice, not him, that made the decision to bring back to the US a man mistakenly deported from Maryland to El Salvador. Kilmar Abrego Garcia was flown back to face criminal charges of transporting illegal immigrants within the US, Attorney-General Pam Bondi said on June 6. His return marked an inflection point in a case seized on by critics of Mr Trump's immigration crackdown as a sign that his administration was disregarding civil liberties in its push to step up deportations of migrants. 'Well, that wasn't my decision. The Department of Justice decided to do it that way, and that's fine,' Mr Trump told NBC News in an interview, when asked about Abrego Garcia's return. Mr Trump added that he had not spoken to El Salvador President Nayib Bukele about the move. Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old Salvadoran whose wife and young child in Maryland are US citizens, appeared in federal court in Nashville on the evening of June 6. His arraignment was set for June 13, when he will enter a plea, according to local media reports. Until then, he will remain in federal custody. If convicted, he would be deported to El Salvador after serving his sentence, Ms Bondi said. The Trump administration has said Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang, an accusation that his lawyers deny. Abrego Garcia was deported on March 15, more than two months before the charges were filed. He was briefly held in a mega-prison known as the Terrorism Confinement Centre in El Salvador, despite a US immigration judge's 2019 order barring him from being sent to the Central American nation because he would likely be persecuted by gangs. Mr Trump said he thought it would be 'a very easy case' against Abrego Garcia, who he accused of having a 'horrible record of abuse' of women. Abrego Garcia's lawyer, Mr Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, has called the criminal charges "fantastical." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
4 hours ago
- Straits Times
White House aide calls Los Angeles anti-ICE protests an ‘insurrection'
Protesters gathering around the Los Angeles Federal Building following multiple detentions by ICE immigration agents, in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 6. PHOTO: REUTERS WASHINGTON - Senior White House aide Stephen Miller on June 7 condemned protests in downtown Los Angeles against federal immigration raids as an "insurrection" against the United States. Helmeted police in riot gear engaged in a tense confrontation with protesters on the night of June 6 after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conducted enforcement operations in the city and arrested at least 44 people on immigration violations. 'An insurrection against the laws and sovereignty of the United States,' Mr Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, wrote on X. Mr Miller, an immigration hardliner, was responding to video footage on X showing a large number of people protesting in downtown Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said it had not made any arrests related to the demonstration. FBI deputy director Dan Bongino posted on X that they were reviewing evidence from the protests. 'We are working with the US Attorney's Office to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice,' Mr Bongino said. 'The Right to assemble and protest does not include a licence to attack law enforcement officers, or to impede and obstruct our lawful immigration operations.' President Donald Trump has pledged to deport record numbers of people in the country illegally and lock down the US-Mexico border, with the White House setting a goal for ICE to arrest at least 3,000 migrants a day. But the sweeping immigration crackdown has also included people legally residing in the country, including some with permanent residence, and has led to legal challenges. Television news footage earlier on June 6 showed caravans of unmarked military-style vehicles and vans loaded with uniformed federal agents streaming through Los Angeles streets as part of the immigration enforcement operation. "Forty-four people (were arrested) on immigration charges," Ms Yasmeen Pitts O'Keefe, a spokesperson for Homeland Security Investigations told Reuters on June 7. The LAPD did not take part in the immigration enforcement. It was deployed to quell civil unrest after crowds protesting the deportation raids spray-painted anti-ICE slogans on the walls of a federal court building and gathered outside a nearby jail where some of the detainees were reportedly being held. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass in a statement condemned the immigration raids. 'I am deeply angered by what has taken place,' Ms Bass said. 'These tactics sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city. We will not stand for this.' REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
