OAN Staff Abril Elfi
3:20 PM – Tuesday, April 15, 2025
United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has met with Argentinian President Javier Milei and his economic team, praising the country’s market-friendly government policies.
Advertisement
In a treasury statement following the visit, the department praised Milei for his work in reducing barriers towards reciprocal trade with the United States.
On Monday, Bessent said in an interview with Bloomberg TV after his meeting with Milei, that the Trump administration is focusing on helping Latin American countries avert what he called “rapacious” agreements made by China in Africa.
Argentina signed a $20 billion, 48-month Extended Fund Facility agreement with the International Monetary Fund on Friday, after eliminating key components of its long-standing currency restrictions. It also announced a $12 billion financing arrangement with the World Bank and a second $10 billion agreement with the Inter-American Development Bank.
“I wanted to come here today to show support for President Milei and his commitment … to what I think is historic in terms of bringing Argentina back from the precipice,” Bessent said in the interview.
“China has signed a number of these rapacious deals marked as aid, where … they’ve taken mineral rights. They’ve added huge amounts of debt onto these countries balance sheets,” he said. “They’re guaranteeing that future generations are going to be poor and without resources. And we don’t want that to happen any more than it already has in Latin America.”
Chinese lenders have provided a combined $182.28 billion to 49 African countries stemming from 2000-2023, which has reportedly left many countries heavily in debt.
According to data from Boston University Global Development Policy Center, Chinese lenders provided over $120 billion in loans to Latin American and Caribbean countries since 2005.
China responded to Bessent’s remarks, criticizing him for “maliciously slandering and smearing” the communist country, and told the U.S. to refrain from “obstructing and deliberately sabotaging” developing countries.
“We advise the U.S. to adjust its mindset, instead of spending time repeatedly smearing and attacking China, meddling in the foreign cooperation of regional countries,” the Chinese embassy in Argentina said in a statement on Tuesday.
Bessent stated that the U.S. was not considering a credit line directly to Argentina like the one extended by China. He continued saying that Beijing had shown a “very good faith effort” in conjunction with the IMF deal, and would be rolling forward the $5 billion drawn down by the previous Argentine government. He also stated that Milei’s government should eventually have enough foreign exchange inflows to repay that amount as it stayed the course on economic reforms.
Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts
Advertisements below
