Cnn
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Argentina has announced that it would withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO), reflecting a Similar move from American president Donald Trump last month.
“The president (Javier) Milei asked (the Minister of Foreign Affairs) Gerardo Werthein to withdraw the participation of Argentina in the World Health Organization,” the presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni said on Wednesday during A press conference.
“We, Argentines, do not allow an international organization to intervene in our sovereignty, and even less in our health,” he added.
Adorni said that Argentina’s decision was based on “deep differences concerning … health management, especially during the pandemic which … led us to the longest locking of human history and a lack of independence faced with the political influence of certain states. ”
A statement was then published from the Argentina’s presidential office accused who caused economic damage during the COVVI-19 pandemic by “(promoting) the endless quarantines”.
“It is urgent to rethink the international community why supranational organizations exist, funded by all, which do not meet the objectives for which they have been created, engage in international policy and seek to impose themselves above countries members, ”said the press release.
Although who works in Argentina, Adorni said that his country does not receive WHO funding for health management. “Consequently, this measure … does not represent a loss of funds for the country and does not affect the quality of the services,” he said.
He said that the withdrawal would offer “greater flexibility to implement policies” in the interests of Argentina and “greater availability of resources”.
“He reaffirms our path to a country with sovereignty also in terms of health,” he added.
CNN contacted who to comment.
Who has already defended his response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, when Trump threatened to withdraw us from the funding of the body during his first mandate, the director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesusus replied“If you don’t want many more body bags, you refrain from politicizing it.”
Last month, the first day of his second term, Trump once again put who in his reticle, announcing that he planned to withdraw the United States from the health organization, arousing criticism from public health experts.
The American president, which Milei considers an ideological ally, criticized the United Nations Health Agency In his executive decree on January 20, citing his “mismanagement of the COVVI-19 pandemic which was born from Wuhan, China and other global health crises, its inability to adopt reforms urgently and its inability to demonstrate The independence of inappropriate policy influence of the member states of the WHO ”, as reasons of the American withdrawal.
Tedros said he regrets Trump’s decision to withdraw, stressing that the United States also earns the agency to which it contributes.
Who was Founded in 1948 In an attempt to protect the health of the world. Its constitution, signed by all members of the UN at the time, warned that “unequal development” in health systems in different countries was a “common danger”.
Today, the agency is working in more than 150 locations worldwide, is carrying out efforts to extend universal health coverage and directs the international response to health emergencies, from yellow fever to cholera and Ebola.
Argentina’s decision is only the last in a series of recent political announcements in the region that have echoed Trump’s rhetoric on border security, trade and migration control.
The Ministry of National Security of Milei also said that it would strengthen its border with Bolivia by erecting a 200-meter fence in the Argentine province of Salta-a measure to prevent drug trafficking, he said.
Earlier this week, Ecuador has announced It would apply a tariff of 27% on Mexican products to “ensure fair treatment” of Ecuadorian producers, until a free trade agreement is concluded.
And El Salvador Monday offered The imprisonment of condemned criminals expelled from the United States – in what President Salvadoran, Nayib Bukele, considered a potentially profitable agreement for his country. “The costs would be relatively low for the United States but important to us, which makes our full prison system sustainable”, ” He said in a post on x.