Who is Gerardo Werthein, Argentina’s new foreign minister?

Argentina has a new foreign minister. Diana Mondino was abruptly dismissed from the role on Wednesday, and Argentina’s ambassador to the United States, Gerardo Werthein, was declared as her replacement shortly after on X. 

“In our country, there is only one foreign policy: the one decided by the president. And the entire Foreign Ministry team is in line with that vision,” Werthein said in a communiqué. He added that he will strive to “modernize our diplomacy and optimize processes so that Argentina can shine in the global scene.”

Following months of infighting and tensions, Mondino was ultimately forced to step down after she voted against the United States trade embargo on Cuba in the United Nations General Assembly. Argentina has traditionally supported Cuba, and Mondino’s decision was in line with 186 other UN member states that rejected the embargo. The U.S. and Israel, countries that the Milei administration has made efforts to ally itself with, were the only member states who voted against the non-binding resolution.

The upcoming Foreign Ministry schedule is set to keep Werthein’s hands full in his first month. President Javier Milei will attend the G20 annual leaders’ summit on November 18-19, and the new foreign minister is expected to accompany him. Between November 19 and 20, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will visit Argentina.

A veterinarian by training, the new foreign minister comes from a business family that owns Grupo Werthein. The holdings company is one of the biggest in Argentina, with stakes in media, agriculture, insurance, banking, telecommunication, food, and healthcare. He is not currently involved in the company but was the vice president of Telecom Argentina when it was under Grupo Werthein’s purview.

Werthein is an avid equestrian, competing as a professional jockey on the side as well as leading Argentina’s Equestrian Federation before becoming president of the Argentine Olympic Committee in 2009. He held the post until 2021, also joining the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the IOC’s Olympic Broadcasting Services.

The new foreign minister traveled to the U.S. with Milei for the first time as part of his delegation in November 2023, shortly before he took office as president. Milei then confirmed he would be the Argentine ambassador to the U.S. and Werthein has since accompanied Milei on several of the president’s trips since the start of his term. He was part of the team that organized meetings between Milei and former U.S. President Bill Clinton and tech CEOs Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. 

“What Milei has done is open the doors so that Argentina sparks businesspeople’s interest, and he has done so successfully,” Werthein, now 68 years old, said in an interview with LN+ news channel two weeks ago. He also mentioned that Milei and Musk are friends, echoing the president’s comments that the Tesla CEO is interested in investing in Argentine lithium.

In that interview, Werthein said the Argentine embassy has relations with both Democrats and Republicans in the context of the upcoming election. “[The election] is Americans’ choice, and we will work with whomever they choose.”