BUENOS AIRES - Argentina's President Javier Milei was en route by commercial jet to the World Economic Forum in Davos in Switzerland on Tuesday, taking selfies with passengers on board and criticizing what he called the event's "socialist agenda".
The trip marks the right-wing Milei's first overseas tour since he took office last month following a rapid ascent for the relative political newcomer who made his name as an acid-tongued economist and television pundit.
At home he is battling to fix Argentina's worst economic crisis in decades with an austerity package that he hopes can tame annual inflation above 200%, build up foreign currency reserves now in the red and lure back investment.
While he has moderated after a brash election campaign where he often wielded a chainsaw to reflect his plans to slash the size of the state, Milei has stood by some of his more extreme pledges including plans to eventually shut the central bank.
Asked by reporters on his flight about his plans at Davos, he said he aimed to "seed ideas of freedom in a forum that is contaminated by the 2030 socialist agenda, which will only bring misery to the world".
Milei took selfies and videos with surprised passengers on board, a reflection of his penchant for the dramatic but also underscoring how he has been able to click with regular people in Argentina fed up with the political status quo.
On his personal account on X, Milei re-posted videos from on board the plane. His spokesman Manuel Adorni explained in a post that the president had traveled commercial to save what he calculated as over $300,000.
Milei traveled with a small delegation including his foreign minister Diana Mondino, Cabinet chief Nicolás Posse, Minister of Economy Luis Caputo and his sister Karina Milei, who is also the Secretary General of the Presidency.
In addition to Davos, the delegation will meet International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Kristalina Georgieva, a week after reaching an agreement with IMF staff over the latest review of the country's troubled $44 billion program. REUTERS
