Milei arrives in New York for UN address with AI and Malvinas as key points

Argentine President Javier Milei arrived in New York on Tuesday for a trip that will see him attend the 81st United Nations (UN) General Assembly and other commitments.

The key event on Milei’s agenda will be his address to the UN, scheduled for Wednesday at noon Argentina time. 

That same day, he will also be the keynote speaker at a private conference on economic freedom at the headquarters of Citi bank and meet with business leaders affiliated with the Council of the Americas.

Unusually, he will not be accompanied by his sister, Presidency Secretariat Karina Milei, on his 18th trip to the United States since taking office in December 2023.

Milei is scheduled to meet with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. At the time of writing, his official schedule does not include a meeting with US President Donald Trump.

The president will remain in the US until Thursday night and return to Buenos Aires on Friday morning.

Other events In addition to his participation at the UN, the Argentine leader will be holding talks with business executives, economists and representatives of the Jewish community.

On Tuesday, he will deliver a lecture at the Yeshiva Darchei Torah educational institution, where he will receive the “Ohev Yisrael” award, recognizing his support for Israel and his ties to the Jewish community.

And on Wednesday, after his speech before the General Assembly, the libertarian will be the main guest at the “Western Values, Economic Freedom & Strategic Security” conference, organized by the Fundacin Federalismo y Libertad (Federalism and Freedom Foundation) with institutional backing from the International Republican Institute.

He will also hold a working meeting with the President of the Americas Society/Council of the Americas, Susan Segal, and a group of prominent CEOs and international business leaders affiliated with the organization.

Milei’s speech at the UN According to the Herald’s sister publication mbito, Milei’s address to the UN will focus on the development of artificial intelligence (AI), Argentina’s sovereignty claim over the Malvinas Islands, and a critique of what he sees as UN interference in domestic policy.

The address will focus on how technological advances, and AI in particular, can drive economic growth through higher productivity and increasing returns.

Milei’s argument comes at a time when AI industry leaders such as Sam Altman of OpenAI, Dario Amodei of Anthropic and Elon Musk of Space X AI have raised concerns about the pace of AI development and the need for safety requirements.

Another core theme of Milei’s speech will be Argentina’s sovereignty claim over the Malvinas Islands, with greater emphasis on economic activity and the exploitation of natural resources.

In recent weeks, the government has ratcheted up tensions with the United Kingdom by advancing a proposal to tighten sanctions on companies involved in natural resource exploitation in areas claimed by Argentina.

Milei’s address will also focus on what he describes as UN “overreach” in domestic politics.

The stance aligns with a broader critique the president has made in previous international addresses regarding the role of multilateral bodies and global institutions.

Editorial disclaimer: Although the UK refers to the territory as the Falkland Islands, Argentina strongly contests this name. The Buenos Aires Herald uses Malvinas to refer to the islands.