People must come first, Pope tells Argentina

Pope Leo XIV delivered a diplomatic but subtly strong critique of Argentine President Javier Milei’s austerity measures and libertarian agenda as he arrived in Argentina on Sunday, insisting that political leaders must put people, not the economy, first. Leo used his first public speech in Argentina to lay out a vision of governance, democracy and society sharply at odds with Milei’s, exposing differences over spending cuts, social justice and artificial intelligence that the government had sought to play down ahead of the visit. “The economy must serve the person, not the person the economy,” Leo told officials, diplomats and civic leaders upon his arrival in Buenos Aires from Uruguay. Leo’s visit to Argentina is by far the most politically delicate of his three-nation South American tour, and a place where Leo will also confront the complicated legacy of Argentine Pope Francis, who never returned home during his 12-year pontificate. Milei, a self-described anarcho-capitalist, has staked his presidency on slashing public spending to tame inflation, while describing the notion of social justice as “a horror,” a “moral aberration” and “theft” in recent speeches. Milei’s government has portrayed the cuts as part of a necessary reform process to remake Argentina’s troubled economy and eliminate fraud and waste...