Argentina will pull out of the World Health Organization (WHO), a presidential spokesperson announced on Wednesday, following President Donald Trump’s executive order last month to withdraw the United States from the global health body.
Trump, whom Argentina’s libertarian President Javier Milei considers a close ally, moved to exit the organization on his first day in office on January 20.
“President (Javier) Milei instructed (foreign minister) Gerardo Werthein to withdraw Argentina’s participation in the World Health Organization,” presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni said at a news conference on Wednesday.
Milei ordered Argentina’s withdrawal because of “deep differences” regarding the WHO’s management of health issues, notably the COVID-19 pandemic, presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni said, citing Argentina’s months-long lockdown under the previous leftist government.
A statement later released from Argentina’s presidential office accused WHO of causing economic damage during the Covid-19 pandemic by “[promoting] endless quarantines.”
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“It is urgent to rethink from the international community why supranational organizations exist, funded by all, that do not meet the objectives for which they were created, engage in international politics, and seek to impose themselves above member countries,” the statement read.
Adorni also cited a “lack of independence from the political influence of other states.” Trump similarly claimed the global health agency had mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic and other international health crises, and that it required “unfairly onerous” payments from the United States, its biggest funder.
The WHO’s pandemic management, along with the leadership of former President Alberto Fernández, “led [Argentina] to the longest lockdown in human history,” Mr. Adorni said. “We Argentines will not allow an international organisation to intervene in our sovereignty, much less in our health.”
The WHO promoted “never-ending lockdowns” during the pandemic “without any scientific evidence,” the presidential communications team said in a statement on X minutes after the press conference.
Mr. Adorni said Argentina does not receive funding from the WHO for healthcare management and claimed the move “will not affect the quality of healthcare services” in the country.
Argentina is also “analysing leaving the Paris Agreement” on climate change, Mr. Adorni said.
Mr. Milei, the Argentine President, has previously described climate change as a “socialist lie.”
