ReutersArgentine President Javier Milley fired Foreign Minister Diana Mondino after the United Nations voted in favor of lifting the U.S. economic embargo on Cuba.
Argentina was one of 187 countries that supported the non-binding U.N. resolution on Wednesday. Only the United States and Israel voted against the resolution.
This is the first time since Milley took office that Argentina has not aligned itself with the US and Israeli governments.
Mondino has been replaced by Gerardo Werthein, the ambassador to Washington. Following the move, President Milley’s office said Argentina “firmly opposes the Cuban dictatorship”.
Under the former left-wing Peronist government, Argentina had close ties with Cuba and supported an end to the economic embargo imposed by the United States when Cuba was communist in the 1960s.
In exchange, Cuba has consistently supported Argentina’s claim to the Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory. In 1982, Britain and Argentina waged a brief but fierce war over the territory.
President Milley’s office subsequently issued a statement aimed at outlining the political vision behind his foreign policy.
“The nation is going through a period of profound change, and this new phase requires our diplomatic corps to embody in every decision the values of freedom, sovereignty and individual rights that characterize Western democracies,” the statement read.
“Our country firmly opposes the Cuban dictatorship and will continue to steadfastly pursue a foreign policy that condemns all regimes that violate human rights,” the statement continued.
Observers say frictions between the president and the foreign ministry have intensified in recent months over a range of issues.
However, Mondino is considered important to Argentina’s public image abroad and has often stepped in to defuse tensions after Milai’s confrontational comments angered other countries.
The United States first imposed a trade embargo in 1962 following the Cuban revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power.
Washington hopes to force the island to reject Castro’s socialist policies and embrace capitalism and democracy.
However, the embargo failed to achieve this goal and became a point of contention between Washington and its neighbors in the region.
