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Following the election of Javier Milei as the president of Argentina, Tesla and SpaceX boss Elon Musk has shown his support, predicting a prosperous future for the South American country. Musk, who owns a social networking platform dubbed “X” has frequently used it to promote Milei, the president of South America’s second-largest nation. His posts include videos of Milei criticizing social justice, seen by Musk’s 182 million followers, to the extent of aiding his business interests in the electric car and rocket industries.
Musk has a vested interest in the region; Argentina houses the world’s second-largest lithium reserves, a key ingredient in Tesla’s car batteries. In fact, Tesla has long been a purchaser of lithium from the country. With Milei in charge, he is pushing for substantial benefits for international lithium miners, a move advantageous to Tesla.
The pattern of liaising with right-wing world leaders continues, with Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro and India’s Narendra Modi amongst his known contacts. His interactions with these leaders have given him the opportunity to secure corporate advantages for Tesla and SpaceX. Meanwhile, these leaders promote the endorsements as an endorsement of their policies.
Uniquely, amongst megabillionaire businesspersons, Musk fosters relationships with world leaders to promote his business and personal politics. He has aligned with former US President Barack Obama, and President Emmanuel Macron of France, and notably, he has publicly expressed support for populism and nationalism, criticizing the role of the left-wing agenda.
In India, a potential massive market for Tesla, Musk used his owned platform, X, to campaign for reduced tariffs on imported electric vehicles. Musk’s X platform, popular in India, became embroiled in a standoff with Modi’s government over the platform’s censorship policies.
In recent developments, in 2023, thousands of Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed Brazil’s legislative and judicial institutions, falsely believing that the election had been hijacked. Despite this, Musk continued to bash one of Bolsonaro’s major political enemies.
Argentina, home to one of Tesla’s lithium suppliers, is another country in which Musk appears to have a keen interest. The current president, Mr. Milei, has been pushing for a bill that would incentivize foreign investment in large projects, especially mining. This bill, which includes substantial tax cuts and customs exemptions, would benefit Tesla significantly. Notably, the proposal passed the lower chamber of Argentina’s Congress.
In another instance of Musk-Milei camaraderie, Milei announced that Musk’s SpaceX-operated Starlink, a satellite internet service, began operations in Argentina in March, following the president’s new regulations.
Musk’s show of support for president Milei and his political stance has not only led to business advantages for his ventures but also hailed him as a “defender of freedom.” The two met to discuss economic affairs, although Musk did not touch on the subject of lithium, a key ingredient in his company Tesla’s product and solutions directly. However, Argentina’s ambassador to the United States later revealed that they had, indeed, talked about Argentina’s mineral reserves.
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