The President of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou, traveled to Buenos Aires on Wednesday to attend the commemorative events for the thirtieth anniversary of the attack against the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA).
Within this context, Lacalle Pou had his first bilateral meeting with Javier Milei, the Argentine president who took office in December 2023. The information has been confirmed by diplomatic sources and the Uruguayan Presidency to LARED21 and other media outlets, and was also made public on social media by both leaders.
The request for a meeting was made by Milei and is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The Presidential and Foreign Relations teams worked diligently on the agenda of topics to be discussed during the meeting, which took place at the Casa Rosada.
Milei also met with Santiago Peña, President of Paraguay, with whom she has a significant ideological affinity.
Wednesday’s event, organized by the Latin American Jewish Congress and the World Jewish Congress with the support of DAIA (Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations) and AMIA, was the first of its kind since the resurgence of the conflict in Gaza.
More than 300 leaders from different countries participated, including officials from the United States, Israel and several Latin American countries, according to organizers.
Lacalle Pou was accompanied by interim foreign minister Nicolás Albertoni. Members of the National Party ticket, Álvaro Delgado and Valeria Ripoll, also travelled to Buenos Aires after receiving an invitation from the organisers.
Activities included a Security Forum, co-organized with the Argentine Ministry of Security and moderated by its head, Patricia Bullrich, as well as another forum for parliamentarians, coordinated by the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Martín Menem, aimed at discussing “the current international security agenda.”
There was also an International Meeting of Special Envoys and Coordinators for Combating Anti-Semitism, which will bring together officials in charge of combating anti-Semitism and discrimination. This segment will include the participation of Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino.
The Uruguayan president had previously planned to return to his country on the same day and on Thursday he will be in charge of the official ceremony in the Plaza Matriz for the Oath of the Constitution.
In Argentina, a ceremony will be held on Thursday morning to commemorate the exact moment of the attack with a siren at 9:53 a.m. local time.
The coincidence of three presidents at the same event occurs just over a week after Lacalle Pou made a comment about Milei’s absence at the Mercosur summit of presidents in Asunción.
In his speech, Lacalle Pou stressed the importance of the presence of the leaders, indicating that “it is not only the message that matters, the messenger is very important.” He said that if Mercosur is considered essential, “all the presidents should be there.”
World Jewish Congress with Milei as keynote speaker
At the event organized for Wednesday, Milei was announced as the main speaker and will close the day. At 6:00 p.m., the plenary sessions will begin in tribute to the victims of the AMIA attack, with testimonies from survivors and the lighting of candles in memory of the victims of the bombing of the Israeli Embassy in 1992, and of another attack that occurred on October 7 of last year.
The speeches were given by the Head of Government of the City of Buenos Aires, Jorge Macri; the US Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the United States Senate; and the presidents Santiago Peña, Luis Lacalle Pou, and Javier Milei.
On Thursday, July 18, Milei plans to attend the central event of the Jewish community, organized by AMIA and DAIA at 600 Pasteur Street, starting punctually at 9:53 in the morning, remembering the exact time of the attack in 1994.
