The Argentine government led by Javier Milei has announced that it plans to pull out of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
A spokesman for President Milei said the decision to exit the WHO was triggered by “deep differences regarding health management especially during the [Covid-19] pandemic”.
The announcement comes just over two weeks after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to begin the process of withdrawing from the international health body.
The two leaders have expressed admiration for each other, with Milei calling Trump’s re-election the “greatest political comeback in history”, while the US president described his Argentine counterpart as “my favourite president”.
The decision by President Milei to withdraw his country from the WHO follows the same arguments that underpinned the withdrawal of the United States.
Both cited the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw a long lockdown imposed in Argentina, as well as concerns over Chinese influence over the global health body.
The difference is the impact this is likely to have on the WHO itself.
The USA is by far the biggest individual contributor to the UN body, putting in around $950m (£760m) in 2024, nearly 15% of the total budget. The US withdrawal will pose some difficult financial questions.
Argentina on the other hand contributes roughly $8m a year. That is unlikely to make any significant material difference.
The bigger question is whether other leaders who share President Trump’s world view, as President Milei clearly does, decide to take similar action.
If more states pull out – and that is admittedly a big if – the credibility of the WHO as the one truly global health body could take a hit.
Argentine media say they expect President Milei to sign an executive order in the coming days which will begin the process of Argentina pulling out from the WHO.
Speaking at a news conference, presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni said that “we Argentines are not going to allow an international body to interfere with our sovereignty, and even less with our health”.
The spokesman argued that an exit from the WHO would provide Argentina with more flexibility to implement policies tailored to its own interests and to administer its funds as it saw fit.
President Milei, who describes himself as an “anarcho-capitalist”, has been critical of the WHO for some time but the idea of leaving the body appears to have gained traction in the days after Donald Trump signed an executive order setting in motion the US’s exit from the international body.
The two heads of state appear to share mutual admiration for each other.
Javier Milei was the first foreign leader to meet Trump after his election victory on 5 November.
Speaking at a gala at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort on the night of their meeting, Milei said that “the winds of freedom [were] blowing much stronger since Trump’s victory”.
Asked by reporters on Wednesday whether President Milei was planning to withdraw from other international bodies or treaties, the presidential spokesman refused to rule out anything.
“The president is very determined when it comes to making Argentina freer, so any link that Argentina has with bodies that go against its freedoms, we’re going to do our utmost to prevent them from interfering in the lives of Argentines.”
Environmental activists in Argentina say they fear that Milei will follow in Trump’s footsteps and also set the wheels in motion to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement – the international treaty which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
