The president of Argentina, Javier Milei, and the American businessman Elon Musk intensified their bromance this Friday after a meeting at the Tesla Gigafactory in Texas, in which they exhibited their growing harmony on political and economic issues.
According to the account of the meeting made by the Argentine presidential spokesperson, Manuel Adorni, Milei and Musk agreed to “liberate the markets”, “defend the ideas of freedom”, eliminate bureaucratic obstacles to promote investments, advance development technological and establish “clear and stable rules of the game” to attract companies.
The meeting was so positive that the two agreed to hold a “great event” in Argentina soon to “promote the ideas of freedom” of which more details have not yet been released.
The meeting is the materialization of a growing long-distance relationship between Milei and Musk, which The Wall Street Journal describes as ‘bromance’ (a non-romantic relationship between two men), and which was forged after Musk hung up on December 2023, on his X account, a video of Milei explaining his opposition to “social justice” and memes in which he considered listening to the president’s speeches better than sex.
After the gesture of Musk, known for cultivating close relations with leaders such as Donald Trump (USA), Vladimir Putin (Russia) or Xi Jinping (China), Milei responded a day later: “We need to talk, Elon.”
The harmony between the two was evident both in the photos and in the messages that the Argentine president and the American businessman posted this Friday after the meeting.
Milei opened the ban with a photograph in which she appears with Musk inside the Gigafactory (both with their thumbs up in approval) and the text “LONG LIVE FUCKING FREEDOM” (sic). In response to the message, Musk wrote: “Freedom!” (in Spanish).
Later, the businessman accompanied another photo in which he appears with Milei at the doors of the Tesla plant with the text: “For an exciting and inspiring future.”
Musk’s message may be the clearest indication that he is willing to deepen his relationship with the Milei Government.
Although Adorni did not indicate whether this Friday Milei and Musk discussed industrial projects in Argentina, the South American country could be key to the magnate’s business and political strategy since it has some of the world’s largest reserves of lithium, a key mineral for production. of batteries for electric vehicles.
In 2022, Musk indicated that, given the sharp increase in the price of lithium due to increased demand from the automotive sector, Tesla could be forced to directly extract and refine the mineral to build its vehicles.
“Lithium batteries are the new oil,” he added.
In September 2023, the consulting firm Eurasia Group published a report pointing out that Argentina could surpass Chile as a lithium producer by 2030 and that the country could be key to accelerating the energy transition.
The report also assessed that Argentina’s future role as a key element in battery production depended on the result of the Argentine presidential elections that Milei finally won.
“A lot is at stake. Not only is Argentina’s opportunity to develop a robust lithium and possibly battery supply chain at risk, but also the progress of the global energy transition,” Eurasia Group noted.
Another sign of Milei’s willingness to increase his relations with Musk was his offer to collaborate with the businessman “in the conflict that social network X maintains in Brazil within the framework of the judicial and political conflict in that country.”
Precisely after his meeting with the Argentine president, Musk redoubled his criticism of Brazil, now governed by the leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and its judicial system by broadcasting a video posted by Brazilian judge Ludmila Lins Grilo in which he denounced in 2019 ” the abuses” of the Supreme Court of the South American country.