Pope Leo delivers stinging rebuke of Milei’s austerity measures during Argentina visit

Pope Leo shakes hands with Argentine president Javier Milei in Buenos Aires on 8 November. Photograph: Daniel Dal Zennaro/EPAView image in fullscreenPope Leo shakes hands with Argentine president Javier Milei in Buenos Aires on 8 November.

Prefira o Guardian no Google Papa Leo XIV entregou uma crítica mordaz às duras medidas de austeridade do presidente argentino Javier Milei, insistindo que o crescimento deve beneficiar todos em um discurso recebido com aplausos estrondosos em Buenos Aires.

Leo stressed the plight of those who, “despite hard work, nonetheless struggle to meet their household’s needs”.

He spoke out in defence of the poor and pensioners, insisting that “particular concern be shown for those affected by illness, dependency and disability” – a veiled reference to the government’s controversial cuts to disability assistance.

Leo, 71, is on an ambitious 12-day tour of the continent, just three weeks after undergoing surgery for lung cancer.

The visit is the first by a pontiff to Argentina in nearly four decades, and Leo was met with calls to help mend deep divisions in the country after three years of austerity under Milei.

Argentina é o país de origem do falecido papa, Francis, que Milei insultou famosamente por suas doutrinas pró-pobre.

Leo said he was “retracing” Francis’s steps.

Argentines are hoping the leader of the world’s 1. 4 billion Catholics will help unite the country, which is bitterly divided between supporters and opponents of Milei.

Hundreds more chanting “Papa Leon” (Spanish for Leo) gathered outside the presidential palace, where he was hosted by Milei.

Brian Inacio Rodriguez, a 26-year-old job seeker, spent five days travelling overland from Ushuaia, at the very tip of South America, to see the pontiff.

Ele disse que esperava ter trazido “muita paz à Argentina”.

View image in fullscreenPope Leo alongside Argentine foreign minister, Pablo Quirno, after laying a wreath in Plaza San Martin in Buenos Aires. Photograph: Matias Martin Campaya/EPALeo arrived in Buenos Aires from Uruguay, where he began his first trip as pope to Latin America, the world’s most Catholic continent which is becoming increasingly secular.

No Uruguai, ele condenou a violência de drogas e pediu o fim da pobreza infantil.

In Buenos Aires, he insisted on the importance of “personal integrity” in public office, stressing that “corruption undermines the confidence of citizens in their institutions.”.

The Argentine stage of his visit aims to boost the flagging faith of a country left disappointed by Francis’s failure to visit during his papacy.

Isso também servirá como um teste de apoio à igreja. Em uma pesquisa recente da Universidade de Buenos Aires, 57,7% das pessoas se identificaram como católicas, em queda em relação aos cerca de 90% na década de 1960.

Leo will visit a home for disabled people and a prison and celebrate three open-air masses.

The church has said it expects 7 million to attend the various events.

Read moreMilei came to office on a promise to revive Argentina’s ailing economy and tame runaway inflation by shrinking the welfare state, targeting public hospitals, universities and pensioners in particular.

A taxa de pobreza tem oscila de forma drástica desde que ele chegou ao poder – aumentando para 32,3% em setembro.

A close ally of US president Donald Trump, with a similar combative style, Milei had a tense relationship with Francis.

On the campaign trail the cost-cutting economist called his countryman an “imbecile” for championing social justice.

Uma vez no cargo, no entanto, ele suavizou seu tom, mas continua lançando insultos à imprensa e à oposição.

His relationship with Leo has so far been cordial, but the local Catholic church has heavily criticised him for treating key social services solely as a budgetary constraint.

Milei também foi criticado por restringir várias liberdades democráticas, incluindo o direito de protestar. Mas ele mantém uma base de apoiadores leais por reduzir drasticamente a inflação.