# Inauguration of Javier Milei

* This article is part of a series aboutJavier Milei
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The inauguration of Javier Milei as the 59th president of Argentina took place on Sunday, 10 December 2023, in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies in Buenos Aires. The inauguration marked the commencement of the four-year term of Milei as president and Victoria Villarruel as vice president. The inauguration marked the formal culmination of Milei's presidential transition that began after he won the 2023 Argentine presidential election held on 19 November 2023. Over twenty national leaders and representatives attended the ceremony.

## Background

The inauguration marked the culmination of the presidential transition of Javier Milei, who had become president-elect of Argentina after defeating Sergio Massa on 19 November 2023, and the formal start of the presidential administration of Milei. Victoria Villarruel became Milei's vice president. Despite being eligible for a second consecutive term, both incumbent president Alberto Fernández and incumbent vice president and former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner did not seek re-election.
In the first round of the election on 22 October, Massa of the ruling Union for the Homeland unexpectedly came in first place, winning 36% of the vote, against Milei of La Libertad Avanza, who came in second place, with 30% of the vote. Massa's victory in the first round was seen as an upset because of the severe inflation that took place during Massa's tenure as Minister of Economy, as well as Milei's lead in polls up to that point.
In the runoff, Milei defeated Massa with 55.8% of the vote, the highest percentage of the vote since Argentina's transition to democracy. In a surprise reversal of the first round, Milei outperformed polls, which had been calling a much closer race. Massa conceded defeat shortly before the official results were published.
A right-wing libertarian who has also been described as a far-right populist, Milei, who is a member of the Libertarian Party, became the first libertarian president in Argentine history. Observers generally saw Milei's win as a sign more of discontent with the status quo than support for his politics, and his victory was likened to those of Donald Trump in the United States and Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil.

## Planning
### Security and counter-terrorism efforts

According to reports, the inauguration ceremony was heavily guarded with the mobilization of 7,000 security personnel. Drones were utilized as part of the security measures.

## Pre-inaugural events

After winning the election, Milei announced upcoming visits to the United States and Israel before taking the oath. On 21 November, Milei met with the outgoing president Alberto Fernández. On 26 November, in an attempt to soften his image, Milei also invited the incumbent Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, whom he had insulted as a communist and as someone he would not deal with during his campaign; Lula declined the invite. On 27 November, Milei visited the United States and prayed at the grave of the famous Orthodox rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902–1994) in New York City. On 28 November, Milei announced that four countries (Cuba, Iran, Nicaragua, and Venezuela) were not invited to his inauguration.

## Inaugural events

As is customary, Milei delivered a speech to the Argentine nation, warning of an economic shock, which has been described as shock therapy in economic terms, to be used as a means to fix Argentina's economic woes, with inflation rising to 200 percent. He was accompanied to Casa Rosada by his sister Karina, who also officially became the First Lady of Argentina rather than Milei's partner Fátima Flórez.
Milei opted to hold an interfaith ceremony, rather than traditional Catholic rites, in order for his spiritual advisor Rabbi Axel Wahnish to participate. During the nationally televised ceremony, Wahnish spoke directly to Milei and gave his blessings.
Following the inauguration, Milei saw his popularity increase in public opinion. After the first governmental and economic reforms taken by the president and his ministers, 53% of the Argentine people had a very good and good image of the new head of state according to a popularity poll made by Aresco on 15 December.

## Guests

Over twenty national leaders and representatives attended Milei's inauguration. Former United States president Donald Trump indicated that he wanted to participate but did not do so for logistical reasons. Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy were seen having an argument during the presentation of Milei and Villarruel before the Senate, described the following day by Zelenskyy as a "frank talk".

### International leaders and representatives

| Country | Leader | Status |
| Algeria | Ibrahim Boughali | President of the People's National Assembly |
| Armenia | Vahagn Khachaturyan | President of Armenia |
| Bolivia | Celinda Sosa Lunda | Minister of Foreign Affairs |
| Brazil | Jair Bolsonaro | Former president of Brazil |
| Brazil | Mauro Vieira | Minister of Foreign Affairs |
| Chile | Gabriel Boric | President of Chile |
| Chile | Alberto van Klaveren | Foreign Minister |
| China | Wu Weihua | Vice Chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee |
| Dominican Republic | José Ignacio Paliza | Administrative Minister of the Presidency |
| Ecuador | Guillermo Lasso | Former president of Ecuador |
| Ecuador | Daniel Noboa | President of Ecuador |
| El Salvador | Gustavo Villatoro | Minister of Justice and Public Security [es] |
| France | Stanislas Guerini | Minister of Public Transformation and Service |
| Honduras | Renato Florentino | Vice President of Honduras |
| Hungary | Viktor Orbán | Prime Minister of Hungary |
| Italy | Anna Maria Bernini | Minister of University and Research |
| Israel | Eli Cohen | Minister of Foreign Affairs |
| Morocco | Rachid Talbi Alami | President of the House of Representatives |
| Paraguay | Santiago Peña | President of Paraguay |
| Peru | Javier González-Olaechea [es] | Minister of Foreign Affairs |
| Russia | Dmitry Feoktistov [ru] | Russian Ambassador to Argentina |
| South Korea | Bang Ki-sun [ko] | Minister of Government Policy Coordination |
| Spain | Felipe VI | King of Spain |
| Ukraine | Volodymyr Zelenskyy | President of Ukraine |
| Uruguay | Luis Lacalle Pou | President of Uruguay |
| United Kingdom | David Rutley | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Americas and Caribbean |
| United States | Jennifer Granholm | United States Secretary of Energy |
| United States | Carlos Monje | Under Secretary of Transportation for Policy |
| United States | Marc Stanley | United States Ambassador to Argentina |

### Other guests

Other dignitaries included several legislators and party leaders, mostly from the political right.
| Country | Person | Status |
| Australia | John Ruddick | Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council |
| Brazil | Eduardo Bolsonaro | Member of the Chamber of Deputies, son of Jair Bolsonaro |
| Brazil | Flávio Bolsonaro | Member of the Brazilian Senate, eldest child of Jair Bolsonaro |
| Brazil | Ronaldo Caiado | Governor of Goiás |
| Brazil | Cláudio Castro | Governor of Rio de Janeiro |
| Brazil | Tarcísio de Freitas | Governor of São Paulo |
| Brazil | Jorginho Mello | Governor of Santa Catarina |
| Chile | José Antonio Kast | President of the Republican Party |
| Ireland | Declan Ganley | Businessman, former leader of Libertas |
| Japan | Akiko Santō | Member of the Liberal Democratic Party and former president of the House of Councillors |
| Japan | Hiroshi Yamauchi [ja] | Japanese ambassador to Argentina |
| Mexico | Eduardo Verástegui | Prospective independent candidate in the 2024 Mexican presidential election |
| Spain | Santiago Abascal | Leader of Vox |
| Spain | Esperanza Aguirre | Former president of the Community of Madrid, former president of the Spanish Senate, and ex-Minister of Education, Culture and Sport |
| Spain | Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo | Member of the Congress of Deputies |
| Spain | Javier Ortega Smith | Vice-president of Vox |
| Spain | Hermann Tertsch | Member of the European Parliament |
| United States | Mark Green | Member of the United States House of Representatives |
| United States | Gary Palmer | Member of the United States House of Representatives |
| United States | María Elvira Salazar | Member of the United States House of Representatives |